The X Files

Some French Jews are gunning for Afatrat…errr, I mean “X.”

French prosecutors opened an inquiry after relatives of Jewish victims of attacks in Israel filed a complaint against Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat accusing him of genocide, judicial sources said Wednesday.

The seven Jewish plaintiffs, who are French but live in Israel, filed their complaint in March 2003, accusing Arafat of masterminding attacks against Jews to back Palestinian demands for an independent state.

Their complaint accuses the Palestinian leader of genocide, crimes against humanity, murder and criminal conspiracy.

Paris prosecutors, who opened the inquiry Tuesday, were keeping Arafat out of legal proceedings for now, judicial sources said. They also limited the case to “assassinations and criminal conspiracy” in relation to a terrorist organization.

In keeping with French legal practice which aims to keep from directly implicating anyone at this stage, the investigation was launched against “X” – or unknown persons.

I would prefer to refer to him as “X-marks-the-spot.”