French NGOs review filing lawsuit against Israeli ambassador in Paris

French non-governmental and pro-Palestinian groups are mulling over taking a legal action against Israel's ambassador to France, accusing him of agitation against the director of the International and Strategic Relations Institute.

The groups are holding a string of meetings with their lawyers to work out a formula to ensure that a legal action would not conflict with the diplomat's immunity.

An article by the institute's director branding Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon as having hands stained with the blood of the innocent drew a fierce attack from the Israeli envoy.

The French academic reportedly received anonymous threats.

In his comment on the academic's article, the Israeli envoy accused him of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel.

The Israeli diplomat alleged in the same comment that Egypt was to blame for the Middle East 1967 war, an accusation which drew criticism from Egyptian Ambassador in Paris Ali Maher.

The Egyptian envoy accused the Israeli diplomat in an article published in Le Monde of falsifying history and propagating fallacies.

While declining to comment directly on the wrangle, a spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry told a press conference on Tuesday that diplomats accredited to France had to comply with rules relevant to their duties.