A rabbi and two Jewish worshipers were attacked by a man armed with a knife in Marseilles, southern France, on Saturday morning, French daily Le Figaro's website reported.

According to the website, one of the worshipers was seriously wounded after being stabbed in the stomach.

Local police arrested the attacker, who was drunk at the time. He was heard to shout anti-Semitic statements during the attack.

The three men were walking to the morning's prayer service when a man attacked them with a knife, all the while yelling anti-Semitic remarks.

A second congregant rushed to intervene and was stabbed in the process. The first two are believed to have avoided any physical harm.

The wounded victim is a woman in her fifties. She was stabbed twice in the stomach and badly wounded, but doctors say that her injuries are not life-threatening.

The assailant is described as a 30-year-old man with a history of mental illness and violence.

He continued to make anti-Semitic comments to the police after they showed up and arrested him. The local police commissioner says that preliminary questioning suggests he was strongly inebriated and that they do not believe the attack was premeditated.

by Joseph Byron