Man detained after Sarkozy grab incident

A MAN in a crowd grabbed French president Nicolas Sarkozy by the shoulder and nearly knocked him to the ground before being tackled by security officers and detained.

The unusually aggressive incident occurred as the president shook hands with a crowd in the town of Brax in south-west France.

The assailant was not armed, according to the national police service. An official with the service said the 32-year-old Frenchman lives in the Lot-et-Garonne region and works in the theatre business.