France probes ultra-left link to rail sabotage at start of Paris Olympics: ‘it’s vandalism’
- A suspect detained on Sunday had keys to the national rail operator’s technical premises, and literature linked to the ultra-left, a source said
France was on Monday probing the possible involvement of ultra-left movements in attacks that paralysed the rail network at the start of the Olympic Games, as new sabotage acts affected fibre optic cables in several areas.
With the government vigilant over the risk of more such attacks during the Games, French authorities on Sunday arrested an activist from an ultra-left movement at a site belonging to national rail operator SNCF.
Police said the cables of several telecoms operators had been sabotaged in six areas of France overnight from Sunday into Monday, but Paris was not affected.
“It’s vandalism,” said Nicolas Chatin, spokesman for SFR, one of France’s four biggest operators. “Large sections of cables were cut. You would have to use an axe or a grinder,” he said.
But the group minimised the impact of any disruption, saying that in the end only 10,000 fixed line customers had been affected.
The man was detained at Oissel in northern France on Sunday and had access keys to SNCF technical premises, tools and literature linked to the “ultra-left”, said a police source, asking not to be named.