2 Held in Slaying of Senior French Official on Corsica

AJACCIO, Corsica —  Two men were held for questioning Saturday after France’s senior government official on Corsica was shot to death on the Mediterranean island, sources close to the police investigation said.

French Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement, who rushed to Ajaccio to help direct the inquiry into Friday’s slaying of Claude Erignac, said everything would be done to ensure the capture of those involved in the crime.

“We have a strong witness. But even if we seem to be on the right track, it is not necessarily going to lead us to the people behind this crime,” he told a news conference.

A police source said that the men being held, whom he did not name, were North African. He said investigators suspected that they might have been hired to take part in the attack on Erignac, the first regional prefect to be killed on Corsica.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killing, but commentators pointed the finger at separatist groups who have been battling for Corsican independence for more than 22 years.

Police said the two North Africans were seized shortly after Erignac, 60, was shot several times in the head as he walked to a concert. Two gunmen fled on motorcycles.