Thursday, August 18, 2011

Gas attack plot arrest ahead of Pope's visit to Madrid

Spanish police have arrested a man suspected of planning a gas attack on marchers protesting against Pope Benedict's visit to Madrid, which begins on Thursday.

The accused, a 24-year-old Mexican chemistry student, was arrested after posting messages on the internet saying he intended to attack the march.

Police have said the man, who has not been named, planned to release "suffocating gases" and other chemicals. 

A pen drive and notebook containing information about chemical processes not related to his studies were found in his flat, police said. 

A spokeswoman would not comment on whether investigators believed he was capable of the attack.

The protest march on Tuesday evening in central Madrid was organised by an association of secularists, atheists and freethinkers, in conjunction with Christian Networks, to condemn the visit – said to be costing the city some €60m (£53m) at a time when Madrid faces high unemployment and austerity measures.

The protesters complain that the government is contributing €25m to the cost of a religious festival. 

Although the majority of Spaniards are nominally Catholic, Spain has no official state religion.

Two hundred white confession booths have been installed in Madrid's Buen Retiro park as pilgrims from more than 100 countries descend on the city.

The archbishop of Madrid, Antoni María Rouco Varela, has urged pilgrims to join the priesthood in order to stem the tide of "rampant relativism." 

He gave mass from an altar adorned with an image of the Virgin of Almudena, the patron saint of Madrid, and a flask of Pope John Paul II's blood. 

The late pope, Benedict's predecessor, was beatified in May.