Sabotage hits French railways

By Crispian Balmer

PARIS (Reuters) - French unions said on Wednesday they had marked points in talks with management and government on the eighth day of a transport strike that was overshadowed by coordinated sabotage attacks on the rail network.

The pre-dawn attack on signalling connections targeted the four main TGV train services out of Paris before government, management and unions resumed negotiations on ending the dispute over pension reform.

Unionists said some progress had been made in the talks but cautioned it was up to local committees to vote on Thursday whether to continue the strike.

"There have been a number of advances, of announcements," said Didier Le Reste, head of the CGT union's rail division. "I trust railway workers to take decisions that are appropriate."

The SNCF railways said some 50 out of 100 union committees which voted on Wednesday had decided to suspend the strike.

Unions condemned the sabotage attacks and said there was no proof any of their members had been involved.

A senior SNCF executive blamed militant strikers for the damage and President Nicolas Sarkozy called for crack police teams to be dispatched to hunt down the culprits.

"Those responsible for these acts of sabotage no doubt believed they could interrupt the negotiations and the return to work that is under way at the SNCF," Prime Minister Francois Fillon told parliament.