Homeland Security

DATE=03/24/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=(CQ) PARIS / EXPLOSIVES (L O)

NUMBER=2-314450

BYLINE=LISA BRYANT

DATELINE=PARIS

CONTENT=

/// RE-ISSUING TO CORRECT LAST SENTENCE OF FIFTH GRAF OF TEXT. SENTENCE SHOULD READ: "Much of the evidence, officials say, appears to point to al-Qaida or other groups with Islamist connections." ///

INTRO: French investigators are conducting further tests on explosive material discovered today (Wednesday) on a railway line. The discovery comes at a time of heightened tensions across Europe, following the March 11th terrorist attack in Madrid -- and after the French government has received threats from two separate sources. Lisa Bryant reports from Paris.

TEXT: In a statement issued Wednesday, the French Interior Ministry said that an explosive was discovered shortly after midday on a piece of track connecting Paris and the Swiss city of Basel. The device is the second found by French authorities in recent weeks.

Last month, investigators discovered a bomb on another rail line, after receiving precise written directions to the device from a shadowy group calling itself A-Z-F. The group, previously unknown in France, has issued a series of threats since late last year, demanding the French government pay it more than five million dollars. If not, it threatened to plant other bombs on French tracks.

Earlier this month, hundreds of rail workers scoured the country's rail lines, but found no other explosive devices. And in a statement issued on its Internet site Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said the bomb's components -- nitrate fuel, a battery linked to detonators, and a timing device enclosed in a plastic container -- did not resemble the previous bomb attributed to A-Z-F.

French media have reported that authorities here have been worried they have not received any further communiques from A-Z-F in recent weeks.

Besides the A-Z-F warnings, Paris and other European capitals have also been on alert against terrorist strikes since the March 11th bombings in Madrid. More than a dozen suspects have been arrested in connection with the Spanish strikes. The Associated Press news agency reported two new arrests Wednesday. Much of the evidence, officials say, appears to point to al-Qaida or other groups with Islamist connections.

Last week, another mysterious group, calling itself the Servants of Allah the Powerful and Wise, threatened to attack French interests in a letter to French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. Copies of the letter were also sent to two French newspapers. On Tuesday, French judicial officials announced the group had also sent threatening letters to French embassies in Africa and Muslim countries. The group takes issue with a new French law banning Islamic headscarves, and other religious accessories in public schools. (SIGNED)

NEB/LB/KL