Dutch right-wing politician shot dead

Right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn, who led his anti-immigration party to prominence in Dutch politics, was shot six times and killed today as he left a radio interview.

Hours after the shooting, Fortuyn’s body lay where he was shot, covered with a white sheet.

Prime Minister Wim Kok confirmed Fortuyn’s death.

Police confirmed Fortuyn, a former academic and columnist who led an openly gay lifestyle, was shot several times and gravely wounded.

Dutch television said the 54-year-old was shot in the head, neck and chest.

The attack came nine days before national elections, and opinion polls had predicted Fortuyn would lead one of the largest parties in parliament.

‘‘After this assassination, Pim Fortuyn is gone,’’ Kok said in The Hague after breaking off a campaign engagement.

‘‘This is a deep tragedy. I am shocked. This is a deep tragedy for those close to him, for his loved ones and for our country and our democracy.’’

It was the first time in modern history that a Dutch political leader was assassinated.

‘‘These are things you thought were just not possible in the Netherlands,’’ said Ad Melkert, Kok’s successor as leader of the ruling Labour Party and its candidate for prime minister. ‘‘It’s a low-point for our democracy.’’

Fortuyn had dictated debate during the campaign with verbal attacks on the country’s growing Muslim population and strident criticism of the national government.

He called Islam a ‘‘backward’’ culture and laid claim to leadership of the Netherlands’ perennially vacant political right.

Fortuyn was leaving a 3FM radio network interview in Hilversum, about 10 miles southeast of Amsterdam, when he was attacked. He was heading for his car when he was gunned down.

Paramedics treated Fortuyn where he fell at the entrance to a building, pumping his chest to try and revive him.

No information was immediately available about the assailant. Witnesses said the gunman fled and was chased by at least four people after attacking Fortuyn.

Fortuyn had recently expressed fears for his safety. A few weeks ago, protesters threw two cream pies laced with urine in his face.

Harry Mens, a close friend who talked with Fortuyn on the phone in the morning, told Dutch television Fortuyn was worried about threats made in recent days against him.

Fortuyn’s rise mirrored a right-wing resurgence in several European countries, lately highlighted by the anti-immigrant Jean Marie Le Pen’s surprise showing in the first round of French presidential elections. Le Pen was soundly defeated in Sunday’s run-off vote by incumbent Jacques Chirac.

Nevertheless, Fortuyn had dissociated himself from Le Pen and other European extreme right leaders.

Fortuyn’s platform seemed out of place in the Netherlands, which has a reputation for liberalism. It was the first country to legalise gay marriages, regulate prostitution, approve and control euthanasia, and tolerate the over-the-counter sale of marijuana in hundreds of ‘‘coffee shops’’.

Though tolerant of such subcultures, Fortuyn’s popularity has exposed a deep vein of suspicion of immigrants in Europe’s most densely populated country, about two million of whose 16 million people are not native Dutch. About 800,000 are Muslims.

Last March, his newly-formed party stunned the nation by sweeping 35% of the vote in local elections in Rotterdam, a port city with a large immigrant population.

Police cordoned off Fortuyn’s house in Rotterdam, where he often met supporters and gave interviews. Followers lay bouquets outside the house.