PARIS, Sept 9 (AFP) - French Justice Minister Dominique Perben on Thursday reassured a delegation of American Jews that Paris was doing everything possible to fight anti-Semitism and punish those behind anti-Jewish attacks.  

Perben "reiterated the French government's determination to pursue and severely punish the perpetrators of anti-Semitic acts" during talks with members of the American Jewish Committee, his ministry said in a statement.  

The minister also told the delegation, led by AJC president E. Robert Goodkind, that punishments for racist and anti-Semitic crimes had recently been strengthened, and that he had asked prosecutors to apply the law without mercy.  

French justice ministry figures released last month showed that 298 anti-Semitic acts had been reported to court authorities between January 1 and August 20, most of which remain unsolved.  

Also last month, French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said that 160 violent anti-Semitic acts had been committed in the first seven months of the year, as compared with 75 such acts during the same period last year.  

France is home to Europe's largest Jewish community, estimated at 600,000.