Pave: Plenty Of Hate In France, V

Le jour 342 de Sarko

Is every garbage can fire in France an "odious act"? The Interior Minister suspects so.

OVERNIGHT ARSON SLIGHTLY DAMAGES
MOSQUE IN SOUTHERN FRANCE

TOULOUSE April 20, 2008 (IHT/AP) - Firefighting officials say a mosque in southern France was slightly damaged in an overnight arson attack.

Fire and rescue officials in the Haute-Garonne region say the fire broke out early Sunday morning after a garbage can was set alight inside the [mosque located in the Toulouse suburb of Colomiers].

... Officials say a dozen firefighters quickly put out the blaze, which slightly damaged a small room in the building.

No one has claimed responsibility for the fire.

Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie* called the blaze an "odious act" and pledged to identify and apprehend those responsible.

The fire officials are saying this is arson, so it is probably so as the professionals are the ones to know. But we can think of several less sinister scenarios that can account for a small blaze without any telltale hate signatures (and here and here and here) and that failed to produce the sort of damage behind malicious arson (and this and this and this) or extortionate arson.

But when these things happen in France, French professionals -- as well as the French government -- are ready to think the worst.

Why is that?

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* A former dimmest bulb in the dark Chirac marquee™ and the on-call party vagina for the L'UMPs.

PFFT (What is this?): High probability of the worst 4½ | Rayonnement français 0