Neo-Nazi gunman tries to kill French president

A WOULD-BE assassin pulled a rifle out of a guitar case yesterday and fired at least one shot as French President Jacques Chirac passed during the annual Bastille Day military parade.

The man was arrested and no injuries were reported. He was a right-wing extremist who intended to kill the president, according to government minister Patrick Devedjian.

He said the man fired a shot and then tried to shoot himself.

Cries of alarm from the crowd lining the parade route apparently alerted police, and the gunman fired just before he was wrestled to the ground. Agents stood him up, searched him and took him away in a van. "It was an assassination attempt," said Interior Minister Devedjian. "He fired a first shot ... then he was overcome and tried to turn the weapon against himself."

"He admitted he wanted to kill the president," added Mr Devedjian.

The Paris police said in a statement that the man was 25-years-old and was a member of "neo-Nazi and hooligan" groups. France 2 television said he had a history of emotional problems.

The man was 130ft to 160ft from the president. It was not immediately clear if the shot came near Mr Chirac or if the gunman fired into the air as police converged on him. LCI television said the gunman fired "at least one shot," suggesting the possibility of more rounds. The man's motives for attacking Mr Chirac were not immediately known. The centre-right leader crushed far-right candidate Jean Marie Le Pen in presidential elections in May.

Members of the crowd said the man took his gun out of a guitar case as the president was being driven past, down the Champs-Elysees aboard an open-topped jeep. Paris police said the gun was a .22 calibre. It was not known whether Mr Chirac was aware of the gunman or heard the shot.

The military parade, a colourful pageant with troops, armoured vehicles and aircraft roaring overhead, continued uninterrupted. The parade is a highlight of celebrations marking Bastille Day, France's national holiday.

The man was arrested at the top of the Champs-Elysees where it empties into Charles de Gaulle Place, site of the famous Arc de Triomphe.

He managed to reach the flag-bedecked Champs-Elysees despite heavy security. Police lined the avenue and mingled with crowds along the route.

In a traditional televised Bastille Day interview after the parade, Mr Chirac was not asked about the assassination attempt and did not mention it. He called for a radical tightening of France's asylum laws and stronger efforts against the smugglers of illegal immigrants. Mr Chirac also said the French military needs strengthening and expressed support for the building of a second aircraft carrier.

The electoral triumph in May won Mr Chirac a second presidential term. His victory was followed in June by legislative elections won by Mr Chirac's conservative allies, ending five years of Socialist government that had restricted Mr Chirac's power to act.

"I want to act now with determination and, I would say, with enthusiasm," Mr Chirac said in the interview from his presidential Elysee Palace that he hoped "to give fresh impetus to France".