| A previously unknown group has claimed responsibility for an arson attack on a Jewish centre in Paris in a statement posted on an Islamist website Sunday. "A group of young mujahedeen (fighters) ... have torched the Jewish temple in Paris at 4:00 am Paris time," said the Arabic statement posted in the name of the Jamaat Ansar Al-Jihad al-Islamiya (Group of the Holy Islamic War Supporters) at http://www.islamic-minbar.com/forum/viewtopic.php. The claim could not be independently verified. The group said the attack was "in response to racist acts by Jews in France against Islam and the Muslims and the desecration of Muslim cemeteries by Jews. It is also meant ... as a simple response to the racist and savage acts by Jews in Muslim countries like Palestine and other Muslim and Arab countries." It said such "acts are carried out by the descendents of monkeys and pigs, with the help of the French government which stands idle before the Jews at the expense of the Muslims in France." The centre, situated in central Paris, was gutted by the fire early Sunday. Police found swastikas daubed in red ink on two fridges inside and poorly spelled anti-Semitic slogans. |