Spanish court bails 'dirty war' minister

Madrid - The Supreme Court imposed bail on the former interior minister Jose Barrionuevo yesterday and barred him from leaving Spain, bringing charges of a "dirty war'' on Basque rebels another step closer to the Prime Minister, Felipe Gonzalez.

Mr Barrionuevo, Mr Gonzalez's interior minister in 1982-88, was ordered to post bail of 15 million pesetas (pounds 80,000). "He is now presumed guilty rather than presumed innocent, and he will have to stand trial," said Segundo Marey, a French businessman mistaken for a Basque Eta guerrilla and kidnapped in 1983 in a case at the root of charges facing Mr Barrionuevo. Reuter