Mayor of paris stabbed at overnight concert

THE Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe was recovering in hospital today after being stabbed during an overnight concert at City Hall, city officials and firefighters said.

Mr Delanoe was rushed to a Paris hospital after an attacker lunged at him with a knife and struck him once in the abdomen, officials said.

He underwent surgery and was transferred to a recovery room shortly before 7am yesterday, according to a statement issued by Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris.

Hospital spokesman Thierry Meresse said Mr Delanoe would stay in hospital today.

He refused to give details about the surgery other than to say that an unspecified number of abdominal lesions were "successfully treated".

Police stated that Mr Delanoe had been stabbed once.

France Info radio said a 39-year-old man with a criminal record was taken into custody after the attack, which happened at 2.30am, and was being questioned by police. The attack was the second against a prominent French politician in less than three months. On July 14, a man allegedly tried to shoot President Jacques Chirac as he reviewed troops at the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris.

In a statement released by the presidential palace hours after the stabbing, Mr Chirac expressed outrage at the latest assault.

The president "expresses his solidarity with the Paris mayor, his wishes for a rapid recovery and his indignation in the face of this insane gesture," the statement said.