Dutch far-right leader shot dead

The leading far-right politician in the Netherlands was shot dead yesterday, nine days before elections that were expected to sweep his party into government.

Pim Fortuyn, an openly gay former sociology professor who was contesting the elections for the first time, was fatally wounded by a gunman on the steps of the Hilversum media centre after taping an interview.

Minutes after he had joked in the interview with Dutch radio that he intended living until a ripe old age, Mr Fortuyn lay slumped on the ground.

Six bullets were pumped into the 54-year old politician's head, neck and chest by the unidentified assailant, who ran off pursued by witnesses to the killing. Dutch television reported last night that a man with a weapon had been arrested at a nearby petrol station. He was described by witnesses as young and wearing a baseball cap.

The killing shattered the image of the Netherlands as a tolerant country where everybody could air their political views, and threw the election campaign into confusion. Dutch politicians closed ranks to condemn the shooting.

Aad Melkert, the leader of the PVDA Labour Party, who had distanced himself from Mr Fortuyn's extremist views, said: "It doesn't matter what the political viewpoint might have been, our democracy is based on giving people the freedom to differ: this is a dark moment for Holland and a low point in our democracy.''

Wim Kok, the outgoing Prime Minister, who interrupted campaigning to return to The Hague, was deeply shaken by the murder. "Holland is a tolerant country with respect for each other's opinions and you can fight with words but never with bullets,'' he said.

Tony Blair, who was due to fly to Rotterdam today for a rally in support of Mr Fortuyn's Dutch Labour opponents, also expressed his shock at the murder last night. A Downing Street spokesman said in a statement: "The Prime Minister has been informed and he shares the sense of real shock there will be in the Netherlands. No matter what feelings political figures arouse, the ballot box is the place to express them."

Mr Fortuyn's party was expected to win at least 20 per cent of the vote in the 15 May elections after campaigning on a strongly anti-immigration platform. The leader of Leefbaar Fortuyn, which began as a fledgling group but captured significant support in recent local elections, provoked widespread protests for saying that Dutch borders should be closed to immigrants and for calling Islam "backward''.

In March, his newly formed party stunned the nation by sweeping 35 per cent of the vote in the local elections in Rotterdam, a port city with a large immigrant population. Whether the general election would still be held on 15 May was unclear last night. Several political parties called for a delay, and the head of the Liberal Party, Hans Dijkstal, said his party would stop campaigning.

Mr Fortuyn sprang into Dutch political life from an academic background and after a spell as a media commentator. As his opinion poll ratings continued to rise, showing that he would be a strong contender in the formation of the next government, he tempered his racist rhetoric. Days ago he called for an amnesty for immigrants who had spent five years or longer in the country.

Mr Fortuyn, who spoke openly about his homosexuality and had a taste for bespoke suits and travelling in a chauffeur-driven Daimler, was first regarded as an eccentric oddity in the Netherlands, which values low-key, modest behaviour.

While he mastered television presentation and self-promotion, he fell foul of a number of Dutch interviewers by calling a halt when he did not like their questions. He recently ordered John Simpson and his BBC crew to leave his home after accusing the newsman of "failing to show him any respect''.

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

A close friend of Mr Fortuyn, the prominent Dutch property developer Harry Mens, told Dutch television after the killing: "Pim was planning to move out of his house and into a hotel because of all the threats he had been getting, which were upsetting his mother."

Mr Mens added that the slain politician, who had received hate mail, threatening phone calls and e-mails for months, had at first been unperturbed. Party members felt he should have bodyguards but Mr Fortuyn said freedom was a basic principle for any politician. They spoke about the assassination of John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and Mr Fortuyn told Mr Mens: "It must be a beautiful death – you make history.''