French rail bomb group issues new threat

[BEER980]

PARIS: The mysterious group that calls itself AZF has issued a new threat to the French government, saying it will bomb the country's rail network unless it receives millions in ransom money, sources close to the investigation said on Saturday. AZF last week made the latest threat in its two-month campaign, saying it would strike targets along France's extensive railways, as well as at "three symbolic sites outside the railways", if it was not paid, the sources said.

AZF has "increased its ransom amount" in its new demands, the sources said, declining to give a figure. The earlier demand -- $4 million and one million euros -- was relatively small, drawing suspicion that AZF comprised only a few members. The blackmail has both fascinated and terrified France, after media revealed in early March that the government had been communicating with AZF through letters and personal advertisements posted in national newspapers.

Experts and police have combed through letters written by AZF to try to uncover who was behind the group -- former soldiers, a religious sect, a terrorist organization or, the least likely option, crafty amateurs involved in an elaborate hoax. In their letters, the group warned it had planted 10 bombs along the railway network and, to show the seriousness of their claims, tipped police off late last month to the location one of its bombs.

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