Tension over torture, death of Jewish man in Paris

PARIS - Tempers are reaching boiling point in the French Jewish community after the torture and murder of a young Jewish man by a suburban gang calling itself "the barbarians".

Police say the gang kidnapped Ilan Halimi, 23 - using a beautiful, young, blonde woman as bait - to extort money from his family. The victim's family and many other Parisian Jews are convinced the crime was, at least partially, racially motivated.

A Parisian MP, Claude Goasguen, said yesterday that the city could face "extremely serious intra-community violence" unless the authorities abandoned their "persistent silence on the real motives for this murder". At the weekend, a mainly peaceful protest was marred by violent actions by radical young Jewish men.

Fifteen people have been arrested in connection with Halimi's abduction and death. They include Audrey Lorleach, 24, who is accused of picking up the young man at his shop and leading him into a trap.

The alleged ringleader, Youssouf "Mohammed" Fafana, 25, who called himself the "brain of the barbarians", is still on the run. French investigators say that the gang has been involved in half a dozen other kidnappings and attempted kidnappings. Most of the other victims, or intended victims, were not Jewish.

Halimi disappeared on January 21 after making a date to meet Lorleach. He was discovered last Tuesday, naked, gagged and handcuffed. He died soon afterwards from multiple injuries and burns.

- INDEPENDENT