BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The parents of a French student stabbed to death and set on fire in London urged the British people on Sunday to help police solve the crime and for his killer or killers to turn themselves in.

    Police released without charge the only person so far arrested in connection with the June 29 deaths of Gabriel Ferez and Laurent Bonomo.

    Ferez's parents, Francoise and Olivier Ferez, said their son's attackers would not be able to hide forever, and called on them to "recognize this terrible mistake you made."

    "Rest assured that we will not leave you in peace," the couple said in a statement.

    Ferez and Bonomo, both 23-year-old graduate students, were bound and stabbed to death at Bonomo's rented apartment. Bonomo had been stabbed nearly 200 times, Ferez nearly 50 times. Their bodies were then set on fire.

    Ferez's parents urged witnesses to come forward.

    "Tell the police anything you know; do not be afraid," they said. "Do not feel useless or like an 'informer.' Someone, somewhere must know something that will help to solve this terrible crime. We ask our friends, the British people: please help us."

    The deaths have spurred soul-searching in a city already alarmed by a rising number of knife attacks. Eighteen teenagers have been violently killed in London this year, compared to 27 in all of 2007. Most were stabbed, and police in the city say the fight against knife crime has overtaken terrorism as their top priority.

    (Agencies)