Gruesome murder of female doctor spreads panic across France

The gruesome murder of a young female doctor in her surgery in northern France yesterday has shocked a country already shaken by two disturbing killings in the previous three days.

Sophie Berkmans, 35, a specialist in rheumatism, was found by her mother. She was discovered with her throat cut at her surgery in Valenciennes, near the Belgian border, yesterday afternoon. There was evidence of a sexual assault.

France has already been jarred by the knife attack on the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, on Sunday, and murders near Dunkirk and the Paris suburb of Vitry at the weekend.

In Grande-Synthe, near Dunkirk, a young man of Arab origin was killed when a man opened fire on a cafe used by North Africans on Friday night. A 45-year-old lorry driver admitted the murder on Sunday, saying that he "hated Arabs" because of an incident involving a young woman.

Also on Friday evening, a 17- year-old girl was burned to death in a tower block estate in Vitry, east of Paris, after being covered in petrol and set alight by a young man she had quarrelled with. A seriously burned youth, aged 18, was arrested in a Paris hospital on Sunday, after presenting himself to casualty under a false name.

Police who were called to the estate to deal with the attack on the young girl were subsequently attacked by a gang of youths. Investigators believe they may also have taken part in the attack on the girl.

The mayor of Paris, Mr Delanoe, 52, was recovering in hospital yesterday after he was stabbed in the stomach at an all-night culture festival at the town hall on Sunday morning by a 39-year-old man with a history of psychiatric problems. Azedine Berkane explained to investigators he had attacked Mr Delaone "on an impulse" because he "hated politicians and homosexuals".

Mr Delanoe, one of the few declared homosexuals in French politics, suffered damage to four of his internal organs. But despite his serious injuries, he is expected to make a complete recovery.