PARIS, July 11, 2006 (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday condemned a bomb attack that killed 140 people on commuter trains in the Indian financial capital Mumbai and expressed his country's "solidarity" with India.

"It is with emotion and indignation that I learned of the terrible toll of the terrorist attacks which struck several Indian rail installations," Chirac said in a message sent to India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and made public by Chirac's office.

"France condemns these acts, which nothing can justify, with the greatest firmness," Chirac added in his message. "I want to express to you, and to the Indian people, France's solidarity in the face of this ordeal and my condolences."

Police were quick to blame the attack on "terrorists," with suspicion falling on Islamists who have been fighting Indian rule in the disputed region of Kashmir.

Copyright AFP

Subject: French News