Police find ETA 'ferry bomb plan'

A suspected ETA terrorist had plans for the Val de Loire

Spanish police have uncovered plans by alleged Basque terrorists to plant a bomb on the car ferry from Santander in Spain to Plymouth, UK.

The plot has come to light after seven suspected members of the ETA separatist group were arrested last week.

One was found to have plans for the Val de Loire, which carries 2,140 passengers and 540 cars.

Sources quoted in El Pais newspaper say activists planned to alert authorities so the ship could be evacuated and then detonate the bomb in port.

ETA planned an explosion on the ferry, say police

The man with the plans has been remanded in prison, along with another man believed to be a member of ETA's Xoxua "Blackbird" commando group.

The other five suspects were released because of a lack of evidence, although one is being investigated in a separate case.

A news agency report says a ferry schedule was found among the detained suspect's possessions, but that it could not be confirmed whether there was a real threat to the ship.

Tourism threat

Another newspaper, La Vanguardia, said a suspected ETA guerrilla had warned police the ferry was a possible target.

Earlier this year, ETA warned tourists to stay away from Spain after setting off bombs at two resorts, apparently trying to damage the country's huge tourism industry.

ETA planned an explosion in Santander, say sources

On Monday, a judge ordered that the two men be held in jail on suspicion of setting off a car bomb in the Spanish city Logrono.

The explosion on 10 June caused heavy damage and slightly injured several people.

El Pais said the ferry bombing would have been part of a larger violent campaign across the north of Spain during the coming tourist season.

But civilians would not be a target, the paper said.

31 killings

Reports say ETA also planned to target two hotels and the newspaper El Diario de Burgos, which it sees as sympathetic to the Spanish central government.

ETA called off a 14-month ceasefire in December 1999.

Since then it has been blamed for 31 killings in its campaign for an independent state in the Basque-speaking regions of northern Spain and south-west France.