Posted on 04/05/2002 2:32:20 PM PST by grimalkin
STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - An unexploded homemade bomb was found in a Jewish cemetery in eastern France on Friday, the latest assault against Jewish sites around the country which has included several arson attacks.
Police said the bomb was found in a cemetery in the Cronenbourg district of Strasbourg -- the same graveyard arsonists attacked earlier this week. Last weekend oil was set alight on the door of a nearby synagogue.
In southern France, three men admitted throwing petrol bombs and setting ablaze a building containing a synagogue in the city of Montpellier earlier this week, Public Prosecutor Leonard Bernard de la Gatinay said.
In Paris, police continued questioning five suspects accused of throwing petrol-filled bottles at a synagogue on Wednesday. The building was undamaged.
The recent spate of attacks, which some Jewish leaders link directly with Israel's military response to the 18-month-long Palestinian uprising, has prompted Prime Minister Lionel Jospin to order police guards on Jewish sites.
The three men being questioned in Montpellier, aged between 19 and 35, were arrested as they drove slowly by the office block which had been set on fire, police said. A petrol-soaked torch was allegedly found in their car.
Investigators believe the suspects intended to attack the synagogue in the same building but had torched the local government environment agency on the ground floor by mistake. The fire was quickly put out and no one was injured.
"The acts they committed were isolated. There was no organization behind them," the prosecutor said, adding that two of the three men were already known to police.
"They have admitted carrying out the act and have regretted their actions during questioning."
The common, reflexive words out of a French officials mouth.
Yay!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.