US urges action on killing of Filipino oppositionist

The United States called Thursday for the swift capture and prosecution gunmen who killed a Philippine opposition leader Wednesday. State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb said the murdered politician, Jeremias de Jesus, had met with US Embassy officials Tuesday to complain about violence meant to ``intimidate voters and campaign workers'' in Tarlac, home province of opposition candidate Corazon Aquino.

Mrs. Aquino said yesterday that she holds President Ferdinand Marcos responsible for the killing, the first linked to the presidential election scheduled for Feb. 7.