Bomb Kills 1 in Belgian Courthouse : 2 Other Explosions Hit NATO Targets in 2 European Nations

A bomb apparently meant to kill Belgian Justice Minister Jean Gol exploded in a packed courthouse in the eastern city of Liege today, killing one person and wounding several others.

Gol, the hard-line senior deputy premier in charge of law and order in Belgium, had been due to attend a swearing-in ceremony for young lawyers in the building but was detained in Brussels by an important parliamentary debate.

Witnesses said Gol’s name was on the printed invitations for the ceremony, which was about to begin when the blast went off.

No one claimed responsibility for the bombing, and Gol, who visited the scene after the attack, said the man who was killed might have been trying to plant the device.

Not Immediately Identified

His body was badly mutilated and could not be immediately identified, police said.

The Fighting Communist Cells guerrillas carried out two other bomb attacks earlier today on a NATO fuel pipeline in central Belgium and the offices of the allied agency which operates the pipeline in Versailles, France.

The coordinated attack in two countries caused new alarm at NATO headquarters a week before a meeting of allied foreign ministers.

“We deplore all forms of terrorism and are determined to do all we can to protect our people and our institutions,” a NATO spokesman said.

A six-page Fighting Communist Cells communique found in central Brussels said an unspecified “international communist group in France” helped in the Versailles bombing.

Another Bomb Near Bank

It said a third attack on a different stretch of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization pipeline near Mons failed because of a technical hitch.

Belgian radio said another unexploded device was found in front of a bank in one of the main avenues of central Brussels this afternoon along with Cells leaflets.

The bombings and several hoaxes caused scenes of confusion and massive traffic jams in Brussels, Liege and Ghent.

The Liege explosion brought a first-floor ceiling crashing down, and witnesses reported seeing a horizontal pall of smoke blown out of the front entrance.

“I saw a pall of white smoke in the corridor. Then I heard them shouting there was one person dead and one seriously injured. Then we were told to get out,” a witness told a radio reporter.