Jewish institutions in France have asked for and were immediately granted police protection following yesterday’s bomb explosion at the Jewish Agency offices here. Police guards have been posted-at all buildings occupied by Jewish or Israeli organizations in France. At the Israeli Embassy, one block from the Champs Elysees, two police buses filled with riot police are practically blocking the street. The Jewish Agency building was seriously damaged yesterday morning when a powerful bomb exploded in its doorway shattering glass in a 60-yard radius and wrecking cars-parked along the street.
The Arab-terrorist organization, “Black September.” last night claimed responsibility for the attack. In letters addressed to the Paris bureaus of the British News Agency “Reuters,” and to the French news agency, “Agence France Presse,” the organization said the attack was a “warning shot” before the arrival here of Israeli Premier Golda Meir. A few hours later, however, the Paris bureau of the Palestine Liberation Organization issued a communique denying responsibility for the attack. The communique said the attack was the result of “Zionist provocations” aimed at turning public attention away from the death of PLO representative Mahmoud el-Hamshari.
The French news agency later said it had no way of verifying the letters purporting to come from “Black September” and assuming responsibility for the Jewish Agency attack. Police officials here were not prepared to comment on the identity of the culprits. The officials said that the investigation “is being conducted with the utmost diligence” and that the results will be released only after the investigation has been completed.
Police circles were only prepared to say that the bomb must have contained 20 pounds of explosives and that the detonator was of a highly sophisticated type. The attack they said, seems to have been carried out “by highly skilled technicians.” The investigation is being conducted by the head of the city’s criminal investigations department. Deputy Commissioner Louis Poiblanc.
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.
