Burned bodies found in Corsica

AJACCIO, Corsica -- Two incinerated bodies found by their burnt-out car in northern Corsica are the suspected victims of a feud killing among rival nationalist groups, police have said.

The two bodies were discovered by a beach 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Bastia after locals heard gunshots shortly after midday (1000 GMT) on Tuesday and raised the alert.

Police said the two bodies, one inside the car and one outside, were unidentifiable, Reuters reported.

The deaths are the second in less than a week blamed on rival nationalist feuding.

Leading Corsican nationalist Francois Santoni was killed on Friday following a wedding party in a village in the south of the troubled French-ruled island.

Santoni's killing has led to calls that prime minister Lionel Jospin suspend draft legislation that would grant Corsican leaders greater regional powers.

Jospin, anxious the policy does not backfire ahead of his expected presidential challenge next year, has not yet commented on the Santoni killing from his holiday home on the Atlantic coast.

Other government figures have insisted the plan will go ahead.

But a senior deputy for the Greens, the government's junior coalition partners, has called on Jospin to end his silence, saying it was allowing rivals, particularly from the right, to exploit the growing concern over the situation in Corsica.

"Of course he must speak," Noel Mamere told RTL radio.

"Everyone's on his back, making it look as if Corsica is being torn apart. That is not the case -- a large majority of Corsicans want a political solution," he added.