PARIS - POLICE defused an explosive device found at an athletic centre in south-western France on Thursday, but another device exploded at a real estate agency in a neighbouring region, a police official said.

The first device, a container of flammable liquid connected to a live detonator, was found in the town of Capbreton around midday, the official said. No one had claimed responsibility.

He said the anti-terrorism division of the Paris prosecutors office had opened an investigation.

Graffiti at the site of the device that exploded, in the French Basque country where separatists occasionally attack real estate agencies but rarely injure anyone, read: 'The Basque Country is not for sale.'

Police from the city of Bayonne were investigating that incident, the official said. No one was hurt in the explosion. -- REUTERS