French court rules no one responsible for explosion that killed 31, wounded 2500 and caused 2 bn euros of material damages ten days after 911

The dead factory worker wore five layers of underclothing (like a Muslim suicide bomber) and had ties to Islamist groups.

Yet France's highest officials declared the AZF chemical plant explosion in Toulouse to be an "accident" only three days after the catastrophe caused 31 deaths, 2500 injuries and 2 billion euros of property damages. Before the investigation got underway. Ten days after 911.

 For exploring the Islamist ties of a temporary worker of Tunisian origin killed in the explosion, Le Figaro and Valeurs Actuelleswere charged with "diffamation.

French intelligence services saw their investigatons stopped.

And while an "accident" was the official thesis from the start, no reconstitution of events or hypothetical chain of events was able to recreate the explosion.

Now, eight years later, a French court has ruled to aquit AZF's directors  (a Total subsidiary)  of any responsibility for the  explosion.

Raison d'état is a familiar concept in France, and one which feeds the unhealthy French love of conspiracy theories.

But this time, the French state may have gone too far: to decree a lethal explosion an "accident", and then to hold no one responsible?  

For readers interested in exploring this topic, I will be posting links to books and articles. Check this space for more. Here is the very complete wikipedia entry in French.