May 31, 2002	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18,1423

PARIS, May 30: The Israeli embassy in Paris said on Thursday it had reopened its offices at two secret, temporary locations.

The move came in the wake of last Thursday’s destruction by fire of the embassy building.

As for its consular services, these had already been transferred before the fire to the Maison France-Israel in Paris, which handles a number of other public functions, including the promotion of travel to Israel.

French police say that their investigation has turned up no evidence of foul play in the fire that saw Israel’s embassy — its second most important diplomatic outpost after Washington — burn to the ground.

The Laboratoire central of the Paris Police prefecture, which began its investigation less than an hour after the fire was extinguished on the morning of May 23, says that it was unable to turn up traces of such substances as hydrocarbons, which usually are present when a fire has been intentionally set.

Still, notes a Police prefecture spokesman, “the investigation is not yet over, and we plan to pursue our investigation as far as necessary, in any case to establish the precise cause of the blaze.”

A conflagration that has been quite persistent, as a police source notes that the fire started again in the rubble of the embassy last weekend but was immediately extinguished.