WASHINGTON, Oct 13: Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan on Thursday fuelled A rumour that explosives, not Hurricane Katrina, broke dykes in New Orleans in August and flooded poor African American neighbourhoods.

“A member of the Army Corps of Engineers saw burn marks on the concrete,” Farrakhan told reporters, describing an e-mail he had received.

“They found two types of explosives used by the military,” he said, without naming the source, adding that an eight-meter (25-foot) crater had been blown in the dike.

Farrakhan said locals had reported sounds of explosions, among other things.

“Wickedness exists in high places,” he said. “The duty of the government is to prove the rumour to be false or that these suspicions are true.”—AFP