Three held over French rail bombs

Rail workers have checked kilometres of track

French anti-terror police are holding three people over the recent spate of threats against rail lines, police say.

The suspects were being held in Paris over bomb threats by a shadowy group calling itself AZF, which demanded a ransom from the government.

At least two devices were planted on French mainline railways, but were dealt with by the authorities.

On Thursday French officials said the group had suspended its threats, but had warned of a return to its tactics.

The suspects, two men and a woman, were taken into custody on Thursday in Paris and the suburban Val-de-Marne region, officials said.

They included an amateur pilot and an antiques dealer, said French news agency AFP.

They were being held for questioning at the headquarters of French anti-terrorist police.

'Big wolf'

Officials said the three were seen near points designated by the AZF demands for ransom-drops, according to AFP.

Police said the suspects' movements matched, in a "troubling" manner, certain elements of the AZF inquiry.

The previously unknown group sent notes to the French president and the interior ministry demanding $4m and 1m euros (£2.5m in total).

Police communicated with AZF using special phone lines and newspaper classified advertisements that addressed the blackmailers as "My big wolf." Investigators signed off as "Suzy".

In February the group tipped off police to a device it had hidden on a viaduct near the town of Limoges in central France.

The threats prompted a search of France's entire rail network two weeks ago, which failed to find any traces of an explosive device.

Rail checks

It is unclear why the group uses the name AZF, which is the name of a chemical factory that exploded in 2001 in Toulouse, in southwest France, killing 30 people. Authorities said that explosion was accidental.

On Wednesday a bomb was found on a track between Paris and Switzerland which was later made safe by a bomb disposal squad.

The authorities said they did not know whether that incident was linked to AZF.

After Wednesday's discovery, the state-run rail company SNCF ordered another search of the country's 32,000km (19,800 miles) network.