Frenchwoman Stabbed to Death in Bethlehem; Fanatic Is Blamed

BETHLEHEM, Israeli-Occupied West Bank — A Palestinian described by the army as a Muslim fanatic stabbed a Frenchwoman to death Tuesday in a restaurant on Bethlehem’s Manger Square.

Army and Arab sources said the woman was having lunch at the Andalus Hotel’s restaurant and was attacked in a restroom. She was identified as Anne Ley, 64. Army and hospital officials said she died of stab wounds in the chest.

“We believe the murder was done by a Muslim fanatic,” said an army spokesman. Another army official said the assailant was a worker in the restaurant; witnesses said a waiter was arrested.

Bethlehem’s main square is visited by thousands of tourists each year who come to see the Church of the Nativity, built over a grotto where tradition says Jesus was born. Tourism has declined during the 40-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule.

Mayor Elias Freij, a Palestinian, said the slaying was the first attack on a tourist in the square in the 24 years since Israel occupied Bethlehem and the rest of the West Bank.

In Tunis, the Palestine Liberation Organization condemned the slaying and said: “Palestinians are opposed to the recourse to violence against parties who have no link to the occupation of their territory.”