Separatists 'not behind parcel bomb'

PARIS, France (Reuters) -- French investigators have expressed doubt that militant separatists were behind a parcel bomb that killed a municipal employee in Brittany.

Judicial sources said the type of bomb was not typical of past Breton Revolutionary Army attacks and that anti-terrorism investigators in Paris would not join the investigation unless new evidence emerged.

Friday's blast in the seaside town of La Baule beheaded a 35-year-old worker who was trying to open the package, which had lain unattended on a shelf since August.

The bomb had been addressed to another municipal employee, a senior official, who said he did not know why he had been singled out for attack.

It was not immediately clear why the package had remained unopened for so long.

The judicial sources said investigators were trying to establish whether the parcel, containing a booby-trapped stereo system, had been sent by a deranged individual or someone out for revenge against the senior official.

The bombing was the latest in a series to hit the western region of Brittany. In January an explosion damaged La Baule's town hall, without causing injuries.

Late last year the Breton Revolutionary Army claimed responsibility for four attacks in the region, including one which killed a young woman in a fast food restaurant.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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