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-- France Alarmed By Mystery Letter

Posted by squirrelly on Mar-17-2004 15:24:

France Alarmed By Mystery Letter

quote:

Mr Raffarin received the threats via two newspapers
A letter threatening to plunge France into "terror and remorse" does not bear the usual hallmarks of Islamist extremists, the French authorities say.
But Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said the letter - addressed to Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin - was being taken seriously.

A group calling itself Servants of Allah, the Powerful and Wise One sent the message via two French newspapers.

It reportedly refers to a new French ban on Muslim headscarves in schools.

Mr Sarkozy said that according to the French intelligence services, the letter "does not bear the hallmarks of phrasing customary to Islamic extremists".

"We take every threat seriously," he added.

The letter was sent to two leading French newspapers - Le Parisien and Le Monde.

Posted normally

The editor of Le Parisien, Jacques Esperandieu, told the BBC's World Today programme that it had been posted in central Paris on Monday and "there was nothing strange about the envelope".

A heavy offensive will take place on the grounds of the allies of Satan and we are going to plunge France into terror and remorse

Letter threatening France

It did not mention last week's train bombs that killed 201 people in Madrid, he said.

But it mentioned 10 February 2004 several times - the date France passed the new law banning Islamic headscarves from schools.

Since that date France had "joined the list of most ardent enemies of Islam", it warned.

It called the "veil ban" a "declaration of war to the Muslim world" and called on Mr Raffarin to withdraw it.

Security has been boosted since the Madrid bombings
It also mentioned the victory of Charles Martel over the Moors at Poitiers in 732, Mr Esperandieu said.

Both Le Parisien and Le Monde said the letter was signed "Mosvar Barayev commando".

Movsar Barayev was the leader of a Chechen group that took hundreds hostage in a Moscow theatre in October 2002 - and died during the siege.

The letter "made sense, sounded coherent and was structured in such a way that I thought it could be serious", Mr Esperandieu said.

It warned that "a heavy offensive will take place on the grounds of the allies of Satan and we are going to plunge France into terror and remorse".

Later on Wednesday, France is set to put on trial Frenchman David Courtailler, accused of links to Muslim militants.

Prosecutors say the convert to Islam met a key suspect in the Madrid bombings, Jamal Zougam, at a mosque in the Spanish capital.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3518786.stm

Posted by imokruok on Mar-17-2004 17:51:

Let's see, who do we blame when the Paris metro gets bombed? Bush? Chirac? Putin? To keep in line with the events of the past week, just as long as we don't blame al Qaeda, we should be okay.

There is one bright side to this, as long as it's just a threat and no one actually dies. France might just come to realize that their long-standing policies towards the middle east need some serious re-evaluation.

Posted by PhloTron on Mar-17-2004 20:06:

I just saw a report that France surrendered.

Posted by xKaoSx on Mar-17-2004 20:26:

Re: France Alarmed By Mystery Letter

Babe- you're Avatar is sorta creep'n me out.

Posted by xKaoSx on Mar-17-2004 20:27:

quote:
Originally posted by PhloTron
I just saw a report that France surrendered.

Chuckle.

Posted by Yoepus on Mar-18-2004 04:25:

It was me, OK?!?!?!

I just wanted an excuse to threaten the French.

Back off! Its not like I actually planned a terrorist strike against the Effiel Tower or something... well actually, thats not completely true, you see...

Posted by rainbow_marble on Mar-18-2004 05:13:

if paris gets bombed it will be bush's fault like everything else, right?