Leftists Say They Killed Renault Chief : Police Seek Two Women From French Terrorist Group

PARIS — The leftist French terrorist group Direct Action today claimed responsibility for assassinating the president of the state-owned Renault auto company, and police said two women were the killers.

Police said they received an anonymous call directing them to the Raspail subway station on the Left Bank, where they found Direct Action leaflets claiming responsibility for the Monday night killing of Georges Besse, 58.

The leaflets were signed Direct Action, Commando Pierre Overney--a Maoist militant killed Feb. 25, 1972, during a demonstration at Renault headquarters on the outskirts of Paris.

Near His Home

Besse was shot to death on the sidewalk near his apartment as he was returning home from work. (Story, Page 8.)

After interrogating witnesses all night at the scene of the shooting, police said Besse was shot by a woman, who was protected by another.

Police said they were looking for two women described as between 25 and 30 who speak French without an accent. Earlier reports had quoted witnesses as saying they believed Besse’s assailants were a man and a woman.

A principal witness told police she saw two women waiting on the sidewalk. “One said, ‘OK, let’s go,’ ” police quoted her as saying. “This woman approached Mr. Georges Besse, who had just gotten out of his car to go home. The woman fired two shots.

“The other woman, who had stayed some distance away, approached me. She also had a pistol in her hand. She told me in French slang, ‘You--get out of here.’ ”

Disappeared in Montparnasse

The two women then ran away, disappearing in the Montparnasse section of Paris, police said.

The assassination came three weeks before a Paris court is to try a suspected Direct Action leader, Regis Schleicher, for the 1982 killings of two Paris policemen.

An explosion today during a basement fire injured eight firefighters in a Foreign Ministry building in central Paris, the fire brigade reported.

The brigade said the explosion occurred after firefighters entered the building to battle a fire. They said that the blast may have been caused by bottled gas and that there was no indication that terrorism was involved.