French government on Monday vowed to fight against all forms of racism after the arson gutting a Jewish center in Paris Sunday.  

"I want to say with much determination that it's on the really strong orders of the president of the republic (Jacques Chirac) that the government declares war on racism, on all racism," French Justice Minister Dominique Perben told radio station RMC Info.

Perben also rejected an accusation from Roger Cukierman, president of Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, who blamed the justice on anti-Semitic affairs was "lax".

"It's important that the law finds those guilty and that they are judged harshly," Perben said.

He also said that special appeals judges had been appointed in every court and penalties for racist crimes had been twice aggravated.

A Jewish social center in Paris was destroyed in the arson on Sunday, with anti-Semitic graffiti and swastikas found inside.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2004)