Suspected Bomb Found on French Rail Track

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Suspected Bomb Found on French Rail Track

PARIS (Reuters) - France's state-run SNCF railway found a suspected bomb half-buried on the main line between Paris and the Swiss city of Basle on Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said.
It said in a statement that the device, discovered near the city of Troyes about 90 miles southeast of the French capital, had been made safe by bomb disposal experts.

The statement did not say who was suspected of planting the device but said it did not resemble one left by a shadowy group calling itself AZF, which is demanding cash and threatening to blow up part of the track. No mention was made in the statement of any Islamic threat.

The device was being studied by experts. The Interior Ministry described it as a small transparent plastic box containing nitrate fuel and a battery linked to a detonators and a timing device. Bomb blasts on trains in Madrid on March 11 killed 190 people. Spanish police have arrested 13 people, including 10 Moroccans, for their alleged role in the bombings.

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