Mr Rossi is alleged to have led the militant group Armata Corsa

Police say Jean-Michel Rossi, a former leader of the Cuncolta Nazionalista party, was killed on Monday when gunmen opened fire outside a bar in the northern town of L'Ile-Rousse.

His bodyguard and long-term associate Jean-Claude Fratacci also died in the shooting. A barman was injured.

Police have yet to establish whether Mr Rossi's murder was a gangland killing or a politically-motivated crime linked to his recent anti-violence stance in the island's struggle for autonomy.

He had previously been accused of playing a leading role in the militant group Armata Corsa, despite paying lip service to a peaceful struggle for autonomy.

Factions

The killings come amid a recent upsurge in violence between rival nationalists on the island.

Mr Rossi, 44, was the first major nationalist figure to be murdered since the mid-1990s, when some 20 people were killed in an outbreak of fighting between different factions.

The French Government recently unveiled proposals aimed at granting Corsica more autonomy - moves which the island's assembly voted to accept.