Arsons on the French high-speed rail network hours before yesterday's opening of the Olympics may be linked to radical leftists and groups critical of the Olympics, reported the daily “Parisien”, quoted by DPA and BTA.
A letter claiming responsibility and containing references to ultra-left groups was sent to several French and international media outlets, Parisien reported this evening.
Alleged perpetrators claimed responsibility for the arsons on Friday and suggested their motive was to derail the Olympics.
"You call it a holiday? We see it as a celebration of nationalism, a gigantic production of the subjugation of the population by the states," the newspaper quoted the letter as saying.
Investigators are now looking into whether this is a genuine claim of responsibility or an attempt by extremists to take credit for the attacks.
„Parisian“ however, it says authorities consider the email a serious lead because it was sent through a secure domain that figures in investigations into violent protest movements.
Arsons at critical points on France's high-speed rail network severely disrupted rail traffic shortly before the start of the Olympics. French state rail provider SNCF expects traffic to be back on schedule from Monday.
About 800,000 people were affected by canceled train services as a result of the sabotage.
Two youths from southwestern France linked to jihadist propaganda and suspected of creating a social media group to recruit people "motivated to carry out violent acts" during the Olympic Games, charges were brought, the French Prosecutor's Office for Combating Terrorism (Pnat) announced yesterday, France Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The two 18-year-old youths have been charged with criminal terrorist association and a judge decided to keep them in custody.
Arrested this week, the two young men worked "to coordinate the creation of a group on social networks to recruit individuals, supporters of the terrorist organization “Islamic State”, motivated to carry out attacks during the Olympic Games,”, they said. from the specialized prosecutor's office.
Two suspects were in possession of jihadist propaganda, contacted other individuals and attempted to recruit them to their project".
But "at this stage of the investigation, it does not appear that the goal was precisely determined and no concrete material means to achieve it were found," added the state prosecution.
The Directorate-General for Internal Security DGSI (the main French domestic intelligence service) has come across messages posted on secure social networks.
One suspect was arrested on Tuesday morning in southwestern France, and the second – on Thursday.