BBC
An “ultra-left militant” was arrested in north-west France on Sunday after exhibiting suspicious behavior near a railway site, according to police sources quoted by French media. Officers searching the man’s car found keys to technical premises, pliers, a set of universal keys, and literature associated with the ultra-left.
The 28-year-old suspect is currently being questioned by police in the city of Rouen, French media reported. There is no evidence linking the man to the individuals responsible for Friday’s suspected coordinated arson attack on railway lines ahead of the Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony.
These acts of sabotage disrupted high-speed TGV lines to and from Paris, causing significant travel disruptions across France. On Monday morning, France’s Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, stated that several profiles of individuals who might have committed these deliberate and targeted acts of sabotage had been identified. He mentioned that the methods used were typical of the ultra-left and suggested a likely political motive behind the sabotage.
“The question is whether they were manipulated or acting on their own,” Mr. Darmanin said, adding that investigators were making good progress and would find those responsible. Although he stopped short of stating that the saboteurs had accomplices within France’s national rail operator SNCF, Mr. Darmanin noted that the locations of the arson attacks were “extremely specific.”
