Camera bomber blows himself up

An anti speed-camera bomber was seriously injured while handling explosives in his flat.

The 29-year-old, named only as “Frederick R”, admitted membership of the Front National Anti Radar (FNAR), a shadowy group responsible for around a dozen speed camera explosions around Paris.

He was taken to hospital after an explosion at his apartment near Nanterre, Hauts-de-Seine.

Police conformed the explosive involved was triacetone triperoxide (TATP), the same substance chosen as a detonator in 2001 by thwarted "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.

While relatively easy to manufacture, TATP is one of the most volatile explosives known, being extremely sensitive to impact, temperature change and friction.

Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie said a number of objects found in the apartment confirmed a link between the alleged bomber and recent speed camera explosions.

Police also found road maps with all the destroyed speed camera locations neatly labeled as well as “significant quantities” of un-detonated TATP in the flat.

In a letter to Paris Match in March, the FNAR demanded four million euros to stop the attacks of speed cameras.

It also demanded an end to punitive motoring laws, immediate expulsion of illegal immigrants, measures to increase the French birthrate and lower taxes.

Photo: AFP Dominique Faget