BORDEAUX, France (AFP) - City hall offices in the southwestern French city of Bordeaux were damaged by a small bomb blast overnight, local police chief Alain Gehin said.
The sidewalk by the building which houses tax offices was strewn with glass and offices on the ground floor suffered serious damage.
"A small bomb was placed behind one of the electoral billboards (...) between the wire screen and the window," said Gehin. The type of explosive used in the attack was being analyzed.
The police chief called the attack an "irresponsible act that could have caused human harm if people had been nearby at the time of the explosion".
City mayor Alain Juppe, a 59-year-old former prime minister who has been informed of the blast, is currently on trial and has already been found guilty on corruption charges.
The prosecution at an appeal hearing called on the court Wednesday to slash the period of his disqualification from public office from 10 years to two years.
Juppe, a close ally of President Jacques Chirac, was found guilty in January of "taking illegal benefits" for arranging the payment of seven workers from Chirac's RPR party from Paris municipal funds between 1988 and 1995.
He was sentenced to an 18-month suspended prison term and 10 years of ineligibility for public office. Juppe appealed the conviction.
Bordeaux' city hall had been seriously damaged in a bomb attack on the night of October 5, 1996 when Juppe was prime minister and Bordeaux mayor.
10/28/2004 - 03:02 GMT - AFP