U.S. FBI helps Hungary on Gypsy killings

BUDAPEST, Hungary, May 4 (UPI) -- U.S. FBI agents are helping Hungarian police investigate a recent series of killings involving Gypsies.

The head of Hungary's police Jozsef Bencze said FBI agents analyze evidence they receive from Hungarian police officers and help produce psychological profiles of killers, the Hungarian news agency MTI said Monday.

About 100 Hungarian police officers work on some 18 cases which are linked with the killings of Gypsies in northeastern Hungary, Bencze said.

The Romany community has about 600,000 members and is the largest ethnic minority in Hungary.

Last week, Bencze said he suspects the killings could be blamed on the same group of extremists.

Two Gypsies were killed in the town of Nagycsecs in November. A Gypsy father and his 5-year-old son were killed in Tatarszentgyorgy in February and a 54-year-old Gypsy man was shot dead in Tiszalok April 22.

A recent public opinion survey found 82 percent of Hungarians hold negative feelings toward members of the Romany minority, MTI said. The survey was carried out among 2,500 adult Hungarians from March 23 to April 7, MTI said.