Five detained in French synagogue attack

PARIS - Police detained five people for questioning after Molotov cocktails were hurled at a synagogue outside Paris, and three suspects in a similar attack in southern France confessed to the crime, officials said Friday. <br> <br> Two fire bombs were thrown at a synagogue in the Paris suburb of Kremlin-Bicetre overnight Wednesday but failed to hit their apparent target and crashed onto a nearby sidewalk without causing damage, officials from the Val de Marne region said. <br> <br> The identities of the five detainees were not released, but officials said the detentions proved that heightened security put in place at Jewish institutions after a wave of anti-Semitic attacks last weekend is working. However, violence has continued despite the security measures. <br> <br> Police said three people suspected of trying to throw Molotov cocktails at a synagogue in the southern city of Montpellier early Thursday confessed. They were to appear before prosecutors later in the day. <br> <br> The gasoline bombs caused serious damage to the building that adjoins the synagogue, which authorities believe was the intended target. The damaged building houses the Herault region&#39;s environmental offices. <br> <br> France deployed riot police at Jewish religious sites and schools nationwide after an arson attack Sunday destroyed a synagogue in the southern city of Marseille. <br> <br> That attack was the third on a synagogue in France over the Passover-Easter weekend, and it embarrassed the government, which has tried to play down accusations that anti-Semitism is a growing problem in the country. <br> <br> Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said Monday that more than 1,000 police, including riot police, had been sent to reinforce officers patrolling Jewish religious sites in a dozen cities. <br> <br> Anti-Jewish violence broke out in France after Israeli-Palestinian fighting escalated in the Middle East in 2000 and has mounted further since the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/202578