PARIS, March 3 — In a bizarre blackmail plot against the French state, an unknown terrorist entity has threatened to explode bombs throughout the French railway system unless it is paid more than $5 million, the Interior Ministry said today.
The threats were made in a series of letters sent since mid-December to both President Jacques Chirac of France and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a noted law-and-order official.
Interior Ministry officials disclosed today that 11 days ago the police discovered and detonated one bomb, a relatively sophisticated 4.4-pound device made with ammonium nitrate. A detonator and timing system were set in a round white Tupperware-like container.
The device was found under a railway track near the central French town of Tolles, near Limoges, which is 220 miles south of Paris.
French investigators have ruled out the possibility of international terrorism by a radical Islamic or Chechen group, for example, but have not explained why, a senior official involved in the investigation said in a telephone interview.
The letters were signed with the initials "AZF," a signature that has mystified investigators, who do not even know whether an individual or a group is blackmailing the state.
One of the letters claims that 10 bombs have been laid along the French railway system, and the police confirmed that they are searching for other devices.
The episode has traumatized the French government, the state-run railway system and the police, and senior intelligence and police officials have characterized the plot as extremely serious.
The Interior Ministry was so intent on keeping the investigation secret that on Tuesday it took the highly unusual step of sending faxes to news organizations announcing that the investigation was under way and asking for a complete press blackout.
After the daily newspaper La Dépêche du Midi broke the embargo today, the government was forced to go public.
http://www.nytimes.com
The threats were made in a series of letters sent since mid-December to both President Jacques Chirac of France and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a noted law-and-order official.
Interior Ministry officials disclosed today that 11 days ago the police discovered and detonated one bomb, a relatively sophisticated 4.4-pound device made with ammonium nitrate. A detonator and timing system were set in a round white Tupperware-like container.
The device was found under a railway track near the central French town of Tolles, near Limoges, which is 220 miles south of Paris.
French investigators have ruled out the possibility of international terrorism by a radical Islamic or Chechen group, for example, but have not explained why, a senior official involved in the investigation said in a telephone interview.
The letters were signed with the initials "AZF," a signature that has mystified investigators, who do not even know whether an individual or a group is blackmailing the state.
One of the letters claims that 10 bombs have been laid along the French railway system, and the police confirmed that they are searching for other devices.
The episode has traumatized the French government, the state-run railway system and the police, and senior intelligence and police officials have characterized the plot as extremely serious.
The Interior Ministry was so intent on keeping the investigation secret that on Tuesday it took the highly unusual step of sending faxes to news organizations announcing that the investigation was under way and asking for a complete press blackout.
After the daily newspaper La Dépêche du Midi broke the embargo today, the government was forced to go public.
http://www.nytimes.com
