SPANISH investigators have linked last month’s attack on the North Korean embassy in Madrid to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), sparking fears of a diplomatic spat with Washington.

Two of the 10 people who broke into the embassy, where they interrogated diplomatic staff, have been identified as having connections to the US spy agency.

It is alleged that they tied up eight people, putting bags on their heads, following which they were beaten and interrogated for two hours. Police were called after a woman escaped from a second-floor window.