More suspects under investigation in French blood scandal

Seven more people, including the director-general of France's national blood transfusion centre, have been put under investigation in connection with the scandal in which over 1,000 people were contaminated with HIV-infected blood, French La Chaine Info television reported on Wednesday.

Dr Najib Duedari and the other six were being investigated for "poisoning and not helping people in danger" , the television said.

The seven are accused of taking blood from high-risk groups, in particular prisoners, in 1984 and 1985.

The latest investigations bring the total number of suspects in the scandal - which dates back to 1985 - to 31, the report added.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.