http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=426169
Two bombs that injured 16 people in Nice yesterday are suspected to have been planted by extreme Corsican nationalists, deepening fears of a violent summer after islanders voted to reject limited autonomy.
The explosions outside a government building followed rioting in the Corsican capital, Ajaccio, on Saturday in which a police car was set alight and journalists were beaten up.
The bombs were much larger than standard extremist attacks on the mainland. They damaged cars and shattered windows within 200 metres soon after 2.30am. All the injured were people in flats near by. An elderly woman was still in hospital last night.
Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, the building - housing regional offices of the French Customs and the Treasury - was a typical target for Corsican extremists. Investigating judges from the anti-terrorist squad in Paris have taken charge of the inquiry.
Corsican nationalists and their opponents have warned that the rejection in a referendum two weeks ago of a plan to give the island a single assembly, single administration and limited powers could lead to renewed political violence.
Although low-level violence is common in Corsica, there had been relative calm in the past three years as successive French governments sought a formula to satisfy the minority of Corsicans who wanted more independence from France. The referendum result leaves this political process in ruins. Nationalists have also been angered by the long jail sentences given to 11 extremists convicted last week of murdering the most senior French official on the island on 1998.
About 10,000 people gathered in Ajaccio on Saturday to protest against alleged repression by the French state. Police lines were stoned, dustbins and a police car were burnt and journalists beaten up.
The Treasurywas the target for a failed bomb attack claimed by the FLNC, a Corsican independence group, in September. Two large bombs believed to have been made from chlorine and nitro-glycerine exploded outside the treasury door and close to the main entrance of the customs offices.
Just over 50 per cent of the Corsicans who took part in the referendum ignored the advice of the French government and the main nationalist movements and voted “no”.
The proposal would have abolished the two départements or counties and placed the island under the control of a regional assembly and a single administration with increased powers over education, environment and tourism.
The nationalist movement accepted the plan as a step in the right direction. A small majority rejected the changes, partly from dislike of the nationalists, partly because of fear that jobs would be lost if a tier of government was abolished.
Coupled with the ETA blast, could Europe be on the brink of a new wave of nationalist terrorist attacks?
The saddest thing about this attack in Corsica is that coming so soon after the Corsican people said “NO” to greater autonomy, it lays bare the sheer lack of support the separatist terrorists have for their cause amongst their own people… and their total disrespect for the wishes of their people