Eight held in Spain for plotting attacks on train

Madrid, March 31 (EFE) Eight people were arrested in Spain for planning an attack on the high-speed train being built in the northern region, Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said.

According to Rubalcaba, the detainees were members of a group that provided support to the Basque terrorist group (ETA), which has been fighting the government for a separate region.

'The arrest of eight members of the group prevented acts of sabotage and violence' against the high-speed rail project, which has been targeted by ETA, Rubalcaba said.

The suspects were arrested in Hernani and Urnieta - two towns in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa - during an operation against the youth groups linked to ETA.

The minister said the high-speed train was a key project for the Basque region's development. The government has an 'obligation' to protect the workers and businesses involved in constructing the rail line, he said.

ETA, an acronym for the Basque language words for Homeland and Freedom, has killed more than 850 people since taking up arms in 1968 to seek a Basque nation comprising parts of northern Spain and southern France.