Militant group renews threats against France

Friday, March 26, 2004

PARIS -- An obscure group trying to blackmail France for millions of dollars threatened an attack to surpass the Madrid terror bombings in a cryptic letter Thursday. But the group, which previously claimed to have mined railway tracks, also announced a suspension of its operations, saying it wants to perfect them. The letter came a day after a bomb was found half-buried on a train track near the town of Troyes, 105 miles southeast of Paris, triggering a massive inspection of France's rail network. For reasons investigators have yet to fathom, the group calls itself AZF. While it has not carried out attacks, its threats to blow up rail targets have heightened concerns -- laid bare by the Madrid train bombings -- about the vulnerability of European public transport systems.

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