Corsican nationalists threaten attacks on Paris and Strasbourg

"After Paris, we will strike Strasbourg," a presumed member of the group Armata Corsa declared in an interview published in the newspaper Le Figaro. The man, who appeared hooded for the interview to conceal his identity, confirmed the threats by the group contained in a January 3 letter to a Paris photo agency.

In that letter, Armata Corsa had threatened the French capital with "random and murderous acts" beginning on February 1 if the murderers of its founder Jean-Michel Rossi have not been apprehended by French police. Rossi and his bodyguard died in a hail of bullets last August on the island of Corsica. No one has claimed responsibility for the killings, nor has anyone been charged.

Armata Coprsa accuses a rival nationalist group of carrying out the hits and claims the government has impeded the investigation because it is negotiating with leaders of that group over Corsica's future political status. In the Le Figaro interview, the Armata Corsa member claimed that the group boasts some 50 "active and well-trained militants" as well as "an unlimited stock of explosives, with which to rattle any building in Paris".

(la/dpa)