December 28, 2002	Saturday	Shawwal 23, 1423

PARIS, Dec 27: A French Interior Ministry spokesman said on Friday that suspects arrested in two groups — on Dec 24 and Dec 16 — in the suburbs of Paris, were preparing to attack several Russian targets in France, notably the Russian embassy in Paris.

The ministry spokesman said that the information was based on a confession obtained from one of the commando members, who said that the objective of the attacks was to avenge the deaths of the 41 members of a commando that had captured the Moscow Theatre on Oct 23.

The principal objective of the series of attacks that were being planned for France by the commando, says the Interior ministry spokesman, was the Russian embassy.

He said the commando also said that several other attacks against Russian objectives had been planned “in the short and medium term”.