MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. French envoy to Moscow Pierre Levy was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday and protested in connection with the unacceptable statements of this country's Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna about the assassination attempt on Dmitry Sytyi, the head of the Russian House in the Central African Republic (CAR).

"Ambassador of the French Republic to the Russian Federation Pierre Levy was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on December 21," the diplomats said in a statement, "He was strongly protested in connection with the statements made by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, regarding the assassination attempt on December 16 this year in the CAR on Dmitry Sytyi, the Director General of the company ‘Russian House’ located in Bangui. We drew the attention of the French envoy to the unacceptability of yet another accusations against Russia of spreading ‘propaganda’ and ‘violence against civilians’ in the CAR by some Russian private military companies."

The diplomats slammed such comments as "inappropriate and cynical." In this connection the ministry called on the French authorities to refrain from a neo-colonial approach expressed in "telling African partners with whom they should be friends and cooperate, in whipping up anti-Russian hysteria and creating an atmosphere of hostility towards Russian representatives and experts who carry out their activities in the country at the invitation of the legal authorities of the CAR."

On December 16, the Russian embassy reported that Sytyi was rushed to the hospital in serious condition, after an anonymous parcel with his name on it exploded. The Russian Foreign Ministry slammed the mail bomb attack as an act of terrorism. The Central African police are investigating the circumstances of the case. On December 19, Sytyi was taken from Bangui to Russia.

Acting government spokesman Maxime Balalou said that the CAR condemned the terrorist attack, which injured the head of the Russian House, and reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to cooperation with the Russian Federation. He stressed that the crime was committed, among other reasons, against "the Russian presence" in the CAR.