Police in Spain are hunting a Moroccan man who tried to rip the crucifix from the neck of a Franciscan friar and then tried to kill him.

The attack by the man, thought to be aged about 35, took place at a cafe in Cartagena, south-east Spain.

The drunk man tried to slash the priest with a broken bottle, yelling: "I am an Arab, I'll kill you."

Two other Moroccan men pulled the attacker off. A waiter also attempted to intervene and was hit on the head with the bottle.

The friar, Fray or Brother Job de Jesus, who was born in Catagena, had returned home to visit relatives. When the man attacked him, he managed to push him away and duck his assault.

He tried to walk away but his assailant followed him and tried to grab his shirt as he shouted threats to kill him.

Local newspaper La Opinión de Murcia reported that Fray Job, who served as a missionary for four years in the Dominican Republic, said the motive could not have been theft of the cross because it was wooden and of no monetary value.

"His intention was ideological," he told the newspaper.  It was of a clear example of "Christianophobia".

Friar's lawyer, Antonio Casado Mena, said the most important thing was to find the attacker.