France/Security: Greenpeace breakes into Gonfreville-l'Orcher refinery

At least thirty activists of the ecologist association Greenpeace have eluded the security services and invaded this Thursday morning a refinery in Gonfreville-l'Orcher (in the Seine-Maritime region, north of France), belonging to the French oil company Total.

Six of them have climbed a building and masked the logo of the company with a banner that read: “Total creates long-term destruction.”

At the same time, 24 other militants have climbed the two chimneys of the refinery to attach two other banners that read “Climat crime” and “long-term destruction”.

According to Yannick Rousselet, an ecologist militant, the action has been organised to denounce the activities of Total in Canada. “We want to raise the issue of liability of private groups in climate change to less than ten weeks before the Copenhagen summit,” he added. Greenpeace has started a campaign to denounce the use of bitumen oilfields in Canada explaining the industrial use is very negative on the climate.

In september, Greepeace activists in Canada have stopped the activities of Royal Dutch Shell facilities that are used to extract bitumen oilfields. the facilities were located north of Fort Mc Murray, in the Alberta province (center of Canada).

Somalia/France/Piracy: pirates attack a French navy vessel

“La Somme,” a French Navy vessel, was attacked by Somali pirates on a small boat overnight, AFP reported on Wednesday.The attack against the French Navy oil tanker and supply vessel, was not successful and several pirates were captured. No injuries were reported.

The vessel currently takes part to the "Task force 150", which is the naval part of the "Enduring Freedom" American operation that has taken place after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Nigeria/Terrorism: a French expatriate killed in Nigeria

A French national working for the Lafarge cement group has been shot dead on Monday near Lagos, said on Wednesday police sources. The man has been killed by unidentified gunmen on the highway between Lagos and Abeokuta (in the Ogun state).

The identity of the victime remains unknown and no group have claimed responsibility of the attack. Police is currently investigating the case.

France/Crime: high school targeted by a homemade bomb

According to the French police, at least 20 homemade explosive devices have been found in the town of Figeac, in the region of Lot, 120 km north of Toulouse between Tuesday and Thursday. The explosive melange was inside plastic bottles.

One of the bombs had been launched on Tuesday at 9:00 pm (local time), in a high school, said the police on Thursday. No injuries have however been reported.

No group or individuals have claimed the attack.

Spain/Terrorism: ETA says they will continue using armed violence

The Basque terrorist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) released on Sunday a statement in the pro-independence newspaper Gara , saying they will continue using violence against the Spanish government in its arms struggle for independence. “We will keep on bearing arms so long as the enemies of Euskal Herria continue their repression and denials,” said the statement. Meanwhile, it also claimed their “desire has always been to find a political solution to the political conflict.” They also asked if the Spanish government would allow a vote on independence.

The rebels said the conclusions were made after completing “a process of internal reflection”, and that they do not expect a positive response to the offer. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had said that the only option for ETA is unilateral surrender. At least 828 people have been killed in violence that followed ETA's campaign for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and south-western France.

Spain/Terrorism : Txeroki refuses to answer to the Spanish judges

The former head of the military wing of the Basque separatist organisation Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) Garikoitz Aspiazu, also known as Txeroki, has refused to answer of the Spanish judges. He has temporarily been moved this Tuesday from France to Spain where he is appearing in the national audience (Audiencia Nacional), the Spanish Court which is responsible of the terrorist cases.

He appeared in front of the examining magistrates Santiago Pedraz and Ismael Moreno who questioned him about five terrorist attacks, including four tempted murders that occurred in 2002. However, the suspected terrorist refused to answer.

France/Terrorism: the sender of the threat letters arrested

A man suspected to have sent threat letters to several French political personalities including French president Nicolas Sarkozy, has been arrested with his wife on Sunday afternoon in the town of Hérépian (in the Hérault region, south of France). A source close to the investigation said on Monday the man confessed writing the letters but didn’t specify if he was working alone.

Last week, six new threat letters containing a bullet and signed the “1000 fighters of the 34th Cell” (1.000 combattants de la cellule 34) have been sent to Nicolas Sarkozy, Bernard Kouchner (the Foreign Affairs Minister), Frédéric Mitterrand (the Minister of culture), Michèle Alliot-Marie (the Justice Minister) and the Mayor of Béziers, Raymond Couderc. The letters had been intercepted in Montpellier.

Identified as Thierry J., the suspect is a member of a shooting club in the town of Lamalou-les-Bains (Hérault) where the mayor was the first addressee of the letters. Because of his membership in the shooting club he was questioned this week by the police like other members of the club. DNA samples helped linking the man to the letters.

According to police source, the man is unemployed and holds a disability card. The man is unknown to have a history of criminal record.

France/Terrorism: threat letters intercepted in Montpellier

Six new threat letters with ammunitions have been sent during the week to the French president and several of his ministers. The mails have been intercepted on Wednesday in Montpellier (South of France) and were sent to Nicolas Sarkozy, Bernard Kouchner (the Foreign Affairs Minister), Frédéric Mitterrand (the Minister of culture), Michèle Alliot-Marie (the Justice Minister) and the Mayor of Béziers, Raymond Couderc.

All the letters were the same. They were signed by the “1000 fighters of the 34th Cell” (1.000 combattants de la cellule 34) and they contained a 9mm bullet. The Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate (Sous-Direction antiterroriste - SDAT) and the police of Montpellier will investigate the case.

About thirty similar letters have been sent since last year to political personalities including President Sarkozy. 11 people, close to leftist movements, were arrested in early September in Saint-Pons-de-Thomières (Hérault), north of Beziers and around.  Put under custody, they had all been released after investigations.

France/Justice: appeal trial of terrorist Rachid Ramda

The Appeal trial of Rachid Ramda, the Algerian terrorist condemned to a life jail sentence on October 26, 2007 for the terrorist attack in Paris in 1995 will start this Wednesday in the Special Assizes Court of Paris. The terrorist had been found guilty for the bomb attack in the French capital that targeted the metro stations of Saint Michel, Maison Blanche and Musée d’Orsay respectively on July 25 and October 6 and 17. The explosion had made 8 killed and about 200 wounded.

Richad Ramada has always denied to be involved in those attack that were claimed by the Armed Islamic Group (Groupe Islamique Armé – GIA)

France/Ecuador/Crime: a vulcanologist shot dead in Quito reminds that crime is a serious issue

Nicolas Cimbaro, the spokesman of the French embassy in Quito has announced on Monday Charlotte Mazoyer, a French vulcanologist working for the Researcher Institute of Development (Institut de recherche pour le développement - IRD) had been shot dead on Saturday in the Equatorial capital. Apparently the victim had been attached before unidentified gunmen shot her in the chest, explained the spokesman.

Violent crime has significantly increased in 2008 and 2009 with foreign citizens being victims of crimes, including but not limited to homicides, armed assaults, robberies, sexual assaults, and home invasions. The French embassy in Quito advises caution when travelling in the country and government personnel are under strict limitations with respect to travelling alone and over-nighting.

France/United States/Security: French general takes over key NATO command

French air force general Stephane Abrial made NATO history on Wednesday as he became the first non-American to assume a supreme command post. Abrial became head of Allied Command Transformation. He is replacing outgoing US Marine Corps General James Mattis who remains head of the US Joint Forces Command.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen hailed the move as “a significant milestone for the Atlantic alliance” during the change of command ceremony aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in Norfolk, Virginia, where the NATO unit is based. The US State Department  also congratulated Abrial on assuming the post. "France, a founding member of the Alliance and a significant contributor to NATO operations across the globe, is a key partner of the United States in pursuit of transatlantic security goals," said Ian Kelly, a State Department spokesman. "We look forward to working with General Abrial as he pursues NATO reform goals in his role."

Mattis celebrated the “historic occasion” of Abrial’s appointment. The move, he said, means Paris was returning “lock, stock and barrel” to NATO’s integrated command for the first time since former president Charles de Gaulle pulled out of the transatlantic alliance in 1966.

France/Anti-Semitism: Jewish school targeted by arson attack in Marseille

A Jewish school in Marseille, south of France, has been attacked this Tuesday morning at 10 (local time) when unidentified gunmen launched incendiary devices. No injuries have been reported said a police source. “The fire was impressive but it was near the outer walls of the dinning room, far away from the classrooms. Students have not been disrupted by the attack,” said Maurice Cohen-Zagouri, the school director. “There were no end to the lessons and the cafeteria has worked normally,” he added.

This comes as the latest statistics has shown an increase in crime in France. As the second-largest city in the country, Marseille has been affected by the rise.

Although the city is not known for a history of anti-Semitic incidents as in other French regions, the latest developments serves to reflect the growing issue of anti-Semitism in France where incidents occur regularly. In January 2009, a synagogue in Toulouse had been targeted by gunmen who launched several Molotov cocktails against the building.

France/Terrorism: a bomb targets a restaurant in high Corsica

A bomb has exploded on Thursday, short before midnight against a restaurant located in Biguglia, in High-Corsica. No injuries have been reported but the blast caused serious damages to the building. “The damages are quite significant but the attack has not been claimed and no inscriptions have been found nearby. No one was hurt, the building was apparently closed at the time,” said a source close to investigation.

Public places and State symbols are regularly targeted by separatists in Corsica although the island enjoy autonomy. Villas belonging to French are also often targeted.

Afghanistan/France/Terrorism: French soldier killed, 9 others injured in bomb attack

President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday that a French soldier was killed and 9 others were wounded when a bomb explosion hit their convoy in the Showki region, north of Kabul. Sarkozy also said several of the injured soldiers were in critical condition, and further expressed condolences to the families of the victim.

The soldiers were on patrol between the military bases of Nijrab and Bagram in eastern Afghanistan. The president has condemned the attack, calling it a "blind violence". However, he expressed "the determination of France to continue to work for the re-establishment of peace and development in Afghanistan”. There are about 3,000 French troops deployed in the international coalition to fight the Taleban in the country.

France/Crime: 9 persons arrested in the case of the threatening letters

(Didier Lebrun/Photo News)

The French police have arrested this Thursday in Montpellier, south of France, nine persons involved in the case of the letters that threatened several personalities of the right political parties. “At this point, investigators are still extremely cautious about the involvement of the nine arrested,” said a police source that asked to remain anonymous.

Three police services have been involved in the arrest, including the Anti-terrorist Sub-Directorate headquarters of the Criminal investigation Department and the Regional Directorate of the Criminal investigation Department of Montpellier.

Several letters containing a bullet and signed by a group calling itself “fighters of the cell 34” (combatants de la cellule 34) had been sent to several political personalities at the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008. French president Nicolas Sarkozy, the Parliament member Raymond Couderc or the Interior, Justice and Culture Ministers Michèle Alliot-Marie, Rachida Dati and Christine Albanel received a threatening letter.

A French hostage escapes from Al-Shabaab

One of the two French intelligence officials held by Islamist group Al-Shabaab managed to escape, the Somali police said on Wednesday. “One of the two Frenchmen escaped from Al-Shabaab and now he is in the palace,” the police said, referring to the presidential palace in Mogadishu. 

It was also reported that the French hostage killed three of his captors before fleeing.

Somalia/France/Kidnapping: French hostage escapes from captors

Somali police said on Wednesday that one of the two French security advisers kidnapped by the Al-Shabaab Islamist group in Somalia last month has escaped from his captors. "One of the two Frenchmen escaped from Al-Shabaab and now he is in the palace,” said senior police officer Abdiqadir Odweyne. “We understand he killed three Al-Shabaab guys who were guarding him. I cannot understand how this good story happened but now he is in the hands of the government,” Odweyne said.

Abdulkadir Hussein Wehliye, assistant information secretary of the presidential palace, said the man is in the presidential palace and "in a good mood." The two French men were abducted in July from a hotel in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. They were in the country to train Somali government forces, which are fighting Islamist militiamen. However,  nothing is known of the fate of the second hostage, who may have been held by a different rebel faction.

Meanwhile, an Al-Shabaab source confirmed three of its members were killed, but did not clarify their deaths. "Three of my friends died but who killed them is the question. We were expecting a ransom this morning," the source said.

France/Terrorism: police uncover another ETA explosives cache

According to judicial officials on Tuesday, French police have discovered another ETA explosives cache during an operation in Caberolle in the southern Herault region. 180 kilograms of chlorate and four kilos of Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) were found packed in the cache. "This is a major blow to ETA's supply network. There hadn't been a find on this scale since 2004," said state prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin in Paris.

About 800 kilos of explosive substances, 15 ready-to-use limpet bombs and 244 detonators have been recovered in a week-long drive against the Basque militants. An automatic rifle, 18 pistols, thousands of rounds of ammunition and stolen vehicle license plates were also confiscated during 12 successful operations in the past few days. On Wednesday last week, police arrested 3 ETA suspects – Aitzol Etxaburu Arteche, Alberto Machain Beraza, and Andoni Sarasola Yarzabal – in possession of 4 guns and 40 detonators.

France/Terrorism: police discovers alleged ETA arms caches

The prosecutor's office in Paris announced Friday unearthing two weapons caches, which allegedly belongs to the Basque separatists ETA, in a forest in Herault in southern France. It has been reported that investigators followed a tip from Spanish authorities and found the caches. Though the caches reportedly contained firearms, detonators and explosive devices, officials have not exactly disclosed its real contents.

French police has uncovered many arms stashes and arrested six ETA members in this week's crackdown. On Wednesday's raid in the Alpine resort of Villarembert-le-Corbier, 3 ETA suspects were arrested. The men were involved in a car bombing attack in Mallorca Island and were on the Spanish police's wanted list. Weapons, ammunition, fake papers and car license plates were also recovered. Police also recovered 100 kg of explosive ammonium nitrate in the French Pyrenees the same day.

France/Spain/Terrorism: police arrest 3 new ETA suspected members

Three suspected members of the Basque separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) have been arrested this Thursday in the Hérault region, near the city of Montpelier in the south of France. According to the police, two arms caches containing weapons and 500 kg of explosive have also been found in the region.

This police operation comes a day after police arrested Aitzol Etxaburu, Alberto Machaín Beraza and Andoni Sarasola and seized computers in which relevant information could be found, said Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, the Spanish Interior minister. That information could bring the police “to dismantle several cells” of the terrorist group, he added.