The arrests of five French-trained saboteurs in Israel last week has led to a number of arrests in France among extreme New Leftists close to Dr. George Habash’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, it was learned here today. French police also uncovered a large cache of explosives near Paris, presumably for use in anti-Israel terrorist acts in Western Europe and the Near East. According to local authorities, the five arrested here are cooperating with authorities. They reportedly admitted joining the PFLP and disclosed details of a mission that was intended to instill fear in foreign tourists by detonating bombs at hotels and other public places during the height of the tourist season. Two sisters from Casablanca, Madeleine and Nadia Bardly who were arrested on April 12, reportedly confessed that they were assigned to plant the explosives. An elderly French couple, Pierre and Edith Burghalter, aged 69 and 60, were the “Porters” who brought explosives into Israel concealed in their clothing. They were also arrested last week. The ring-leader, according to police, was 26-year-old Evelyne Brage, a German-born woman raised in France.
Police who questioned her said today that she was the mysterious woman who visited the hotel rooms of Palestinian commandos in Frankfort last summer prior to the multiple air liner hijackings that stunned the world last September. She was seen in the company of Leila Khaled and her American companion just before their abortive attempt to hijack an E1 A1 airliner. Miss Brage was also linked by Israeli police to a million dollar dock fire in Rotterdam last March 15. Police said she was attempting to damages stored Israeli goods but touched off stores of refined oil by mistake. Meanwhile, it was also disclosed that a PFLP cell was uncovered recently by Israeli security forces in the northern districts of Acre and Nazareth. Four members of the group were arrested while its leader, Saadi Jaateer### Bethlehem, escaped to Jordan. The cell was still in its formative stage and did not carry out any acts of sabotage.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
