French police arrest eight over train sabotage

French anti-terrorist police have arrested eight people linked to far-left political groups for allegedly sabotaging power cables on high speed TGV train lines, the interior ministry said today.

It said the "anarcho-autonomous" movement that the suspects belonged to had been under surveillance for several months by domestic intelligence services and anti-terrorist police.

Severe delays were caused at the weekend when power was cut by metal bars hooked onto several overhead electric cables on TGV lines in the area around Paris.

The government and management of France's national rail operator SNCF [SNCF.UL] said on Sunday that the stunts, which did not threaten the safety of passengers, appear to have been coordinated acts of sabotage and could only have been done by someone familiar with working with high tension power cables.

The case was formally transferred to anti-terrorist police services.