FRANCE: SECURITY EXPERTS CHECK FRENCH RAILWAYS FOLLOWING BOMB THREATS BY UNKNOWN GROUP.

Record ID: 358880

  • Title: FRANCE: SECURITY EXPERTS CHECK FRENCH RAILWAYS FOLLOWING BOMB THREATS BY UNKNOWN GROUP.
  • Date: 4th March 2004
  • Summary: (W5) LILLE, FRANCE (MARCH 4, 2004) (ITV - NO ACCESS FRANCE/INTERNET) 1. EXPERTS CHECKING RAILWAYS 2. TRAIN GOING BY AS EXPERTS CHECK RAILWAYS 3. EXPERTS CHECKING RAILWAYS 4. TRAIN GOING BY AS EXPERTS CHECK RAILWAYS (W5) TOULOUSE, FRANCE (MARCH 4, 2004) (ITV - NO ACCESS FRANCE/INTERNET) 5. PASSENGERS AT TOULOUSE
  • Embargoed: 19th March 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LILLE/TOULOUSE, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Reuters ID: LVACK6DYB0P7G35YGW65KMWPM15M
  • Story Text: French authorities have inspected thousands of
    kilometres of their railway tracks following bomb threats
    by an unknown group.



    Ten thousand rail workers combed France's sprawling
    train track network for bombs on Thursday (4 March) and the
    government said it had heightened security for commuters
    alarmed by a shadowy group's threats to blow up trains.

    The conservative government, trying to reassure voters
    ahead of regional elections, vowed to identify and stop the
    previously unknown group which says it has planted 10 bombs
    and will explode them if it is not paid four million euros
    ($5 million U.S. dollars).

    The government said it is treating it as a criminal
    case and ruled out the involvement of radical Islamic
    groups. Crime specialists said that even a single dangerous
    crank could be behind the blackmail threats.

    Police seemed to have few clues to go on except
    threatening letters sent to President Jacques Chirac and
    the Interior Ministry by a group called AFZ, and indirect
    contacts through a few personal messages placed in
    Liberation newspaper.

    Under terms set by the group, the Interior Ministry
    identified itself as Suzy and the blackmailers called
    themselves Big Wolf in messages which discussed a handover
    of the ransom money by helicopter which never took place.

    Underlining that the authorities are taking the threats
    seriously, 10,000 workers clad in bright yellow reflective
    tops searched the 32,000 km (20,000 miles) of state rail
    track though the night. There was no word of any bombs
    being found.

    Passengers were travelling as per normal, but some were
    wary. "We have the right to be informed. The public must
    know. Then each one can act accordingly, but the
    information must be given", said one passenger. An elderly
    lady seemed more concerned: "Well, I'm a bit afraid [to
    take the train], because we never know. I don't know if
    they can identify everything that may be lying under the
    rails", she said.

    The government has been touting a drop in crime and
    improved security before regional elections on March 21 and
    28 will test its popularity. It is determined not to let
    the threats damage the enviable safety record of its TGV
    high speed trains.

    But the government faces tough challenges, such as how
    to guarantee security on every part of a vast rail network
    which carries millions of passengers each day, and how to
    track down a group about which it knows little.

    The group has demanded a surprisingly small ransom.

    Media reports suggest the sum has also varied from time to
    time. The group names itself after the AZF chemical factory that
    exploded in 2001, killing 31 people, in an industrial
    accident. The group has been in contact with the French
    authorities since December 11 and helped police find a
    timebomb on February 21 that it had buried under tracks in
    southwestern France. Police tested it and found it could
    destroy a section of track.



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