French police defuse huge car bomb

MARSEILLES, France -- Police have defused a 60kg (130-pound) bomb left in a car parked in the centre of Marseille.

No one has claimed responsibility for the device, but Corsican separatists are being suspected.

Police said a telephone warning was given by an anonymous caller with a Corsican accent who said the device was meant as a warning to Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.

A journalist in Paris received a warning call two hours before the bomb was timed to go off, said a spokesman.

The stolen white Peugeot 306, which was parked near a police station, contained four cans full of explosives and a timer.

Police evacuated residents from part of the street and sealed off the area. Officers said the device was timed to go off during Friday's evening rush hour.

The national anti-terrorist police and regional police authorities have started an investigation.

The French Mediterranean island of Corsica, which has endured separatist violence for a quarter of a century, has been at the forefront of French politics in recent months.

Jospin's Socialist-led government agreed to a plan for limited autonomy for Corsica in July.

It involved giving Corsica limited rights to pass its own laws from 2004 -- but only if peace is restored.

The proposals also include aid for infrastructure development and measures to include teaching of the Corsican language in primary schools.

The deal crowned seven months of talks started when Jospin agreed to open landmark negotiations with Corsican politicians of all side, including nationalists.

Six militant nationalist groups called ceasefires after the talks began, saying they wanted to give dialogue a chance.

But the deal led to the resignation, in August, of French Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement who said the plan would split the state.

It also resulted in an outbreak of violence and bombings on the island. Two prominent Corsican politicians were murdered in a sub-machine gun raid.

A car bomb in the capital, Ajaccio, on August 13 injured several people while two more bombings damaged a public building in the town of Corte and a government office in Sartene.

Also in August, a Corsican nationalist who had completed a book about the clandestine world of nationalists was shot dead.

Jean-Michel Rossi, 44, who had worked with the former head of the nationalist group Cuncolta, Francois Santoni, was killed outside a bar in Ille-Rousse.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Jospin's troubled waters
September 5, 2000
Minister quits over Corsican deal
August 29, 2000
Third bomb rocks Corsica
August 19, 2000

French National Assembly

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.