Today's Date:

A man presumed to be responsible for the arson attack which destroyed a Jewish community center in Paris on the night of August 21 - 22 was detained for questioning Monday morning. He is a Jewish former employee of the center, a police source told AFP. According to police investigations, he sometimes served as a guard at the center, and officials there had planned to let him go. The man, who is in his fifties, reportedly felt "resentful" and decided to get his own back, still according to the same source.

The clues assembled by the police during their inquiry still have to be confirmed in the time the man is in custody, up to 48 hours, the source said. The Paris police prefecture announced the arrest late morning without revealing the man's identity or motives.

For some time the police had tended to the assumption, "among others," that the attack was an "internal affair."

The fire destroyed the Jewish community center which was also daubed with swastikas and anti-Semitic graffiti. The attack sparked condemnation and indignation from the political class and community leaders./.