France Vows to Catch Gov't Blackmailers

PARIS - France's justice minister vowed Thursday to quickly capture a group that has blackmailed the government, threatening to blow up French railway tracks unless it receives millions of dollars in ransom.

"Everyone is mobilized," Dominique Perben told RTL radio station. "I hope that we will very quickly identify the people behind it."

The government, meanwhile, faced criticism for keeping the threats secret as it pursued an investigation of bomb threats that Cabinet members have described as serious.

"Once more, the law of silence has prevailed," the Federation of Transport Users, a commuter's advocacy group, said in a statement. "The French people should have been informed of the threat, which was known and being taken seriously."

The threats, which were first made public Wednesday, appeared in letters sent to the offices of French President Jacques Chirac and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy on Dec. 10, Feb. 13 and 17.

The government had earlier urged media not to report the blackmail effort to protect efforts to establish contacts with the group. But the Interior Ministry released details Wednesday after the story leaked.

The letters, demanding sums of $4 million and euros worth $1.2 million, threatened nine railway targets.

To ease commuter's concerns, 10,000 rail workers searched thousands of miles of train tracks Wednesday to inspect for bombs or signs of foul play. Security on the network was heightened but service was not interrupted.

Information from the group, which identifies itself as AZF and was previously unknown to authorities, led to the recovery Feb. 21 of a sophisticated explosive device buried in tracks near Limoges in central France.

Police do not believe the group is connected to Islamic terrorism.

The group's initials, AZF, are those of a chemical factory that exploded, killing 30 people, in southwestern France in 2001. Investigators believe that explosion was accidental.