WORLD : Body Explodes Just Before Flight

NAIROBI, Kenya — The body of a French citizen killed when a relief plane was shot down in southern Sudan suddenly exploded in Khartoum just before it was to be flown back to Paris for funeral services, sources said today.

The sources said medical personnel at the scene did not believe the Thursday blast was caused by a buildup of natural gases and feared the corpse had been booby-trapped.

If the body was indeed sabotaged, it was unclear if it was meant to explode on the UNICEF flight that carried the corpse back from southern Sudan to Khartoum, or on the flight to Paris, the sources said.