Two bombs rock Corsica

AJACCIO, Corsica -- Two bombs have exploded in Corsica, causing serious damage to a villa belonging to a Japanese industrialist and a holiday village owned by a French state agency.

No one was injured in the blasts which both happened on Saturday night, police said.

The first device exploded at the businessman's seaside villa south of Ajaccio, on the west coast of the Mediterranean island.

The villa was unoccupied at the time of the blast, the gendarmerie paramilitary police said on Sunday.

The second bomb exploded on a restaurant terrace at a holiday village 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Ajaccio belonging to the CEA Atomic Energy Commission, a state organisation which conducts atomic research.

The bomb caused major damage but the village was also unoccupied at the time.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.

At the scene of the first blast, investigators found the words "Coastline law: Boom!" scrawled on the villa's gate.

France recently approved a bill devolving limited powers to Corsica but rejected a clause exempting the island from a coastal protection law over fears it would lead to the development of unsightly hotels.

Corsican nationalists, who want full independence for the island, often target symbols of the French state and property owned by foreigners.