When retreating Germans were fired upon by French Resistance, they fired explosives, setting off an explosion that was heard throughout the city and leaving the glass-domed hall in flames.
With a text in Arabic complemented by diagrams taken from American military manuals, the document offers lessons for rigging explosives, setting and concealing booby traps, and wiring an alarm clock to detonate a bomb.
In Ayers's hands, a career in terrorism becomes a harmless episode out of a John le Carré novel, in which our hero lives on the run, steals explosives, sets off explosions using "tradecraft," as the flap copy puts it -- as if the Weathermen were characters in "Smiley's People".
His disappearance, and fears that he could be armed with more explosives, set off an intense manhunt.
The terrorists, according to the document, reportedly contemplated deploying suicide bombers or using explosives set off by remote control.
Half an hour later, the city plans a fireworks display: nearly a ton of explosives set off from seven points around the city.
He said he could not provide other details, but a military incident report given to soldiers in the area indicated that the attack involved two remote-controlled explosives set off at 7 30 a.m. about 200 yards from an American military forward observation base.
During the Civil War, both sides sent hot-air balloons rigged with explosives (set to drop by timer) floating over each other's lines.
The initial eruption, which was reportedly sparked by "inflammables and explosives," set off more fires in the surrounding area.
