"They have been accused of attacking the national heritage," a police spokesman told AFP, saying they will be brought before a judge.

The members of the environmental group, including six Spaniards, an Italian and two Portuguese, climbed the 16th century tower on the banks of the Tagus downstream from the capital at 7:00 am (0700 GMT) before being removed a few hours later by police.

On Sunday night the heads of state and government attending the summit of Iberian and Latin American states near the Portuguese capital had participated in a ceremony at the tower.

The protesters unfurled banners declaring "Our climate, our decision", part of Greenpeace's action calling attention to global warming in the run-up to the UN climate summit starting in Copenhagen on December 7.

Greenpeace called on the leaders gathered in the resort of Estoril to "adopt measures against climate change, essential to the future of Latin American countries," said Juan de Uralde, director of Greenpeace Spain, in a statement.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.