Police stop attempt on Chirac's life

PARIS -- A man described as an emotionally disturbed neo-Nazi allegedly tried to assassinate French President Jacques Chirac on Sunday, pulling a rifle from a guitar case and firing off a shot before being wrestled to the ground during a Bastille Day parade.\nThere were no reported injuries. It was not immediately clear how close the shot came to Chirac, who was passing about 130 to 160 feet away in an open-top jeep near Paris' Arch of Triumph as he reviewed troops in a military parade to celebrate France's national holiday.\nAs the gunman pulled a .22-caliber rifle out of a brown guitar case, the crowd along the tree-lined edge of the Champs-Elysees began shouting, apparently alerting police who rushed in and tackled him.\n"He was very determined," a witness identified only as Mohammed told France Info radio. "When he got it out, we grabbed his hands so the gun went upward."\nThe assailant was not identified, but Paris police said he was 25 years old and a member of "neo-Nazi and hooligan" groups. Police later transferred the man, who reportedly had a history of emotional problems, to a psychiatric facility, the radio station said.\n"It was an assassination attempt," said a government minister, Patrick Devedjian. "He admitted he wanted to kill the president." Devedjian, who is under the interior minister, said the gunman tried to shoot himself while being overcome.\nThe man's motives for attacking Chirac were not immediately known. Chirac crushed his far-right opponent, National Front leader Jean- Marie Le Pen, in the second round of France's presidential election in May, winning 82 percent of the vote and a second term.\nDevedjian said the gunman was from "the extreme, extreme right, even further right than the National Front."\nLe Pen denied any connection to the gunman and condemned "all assassination attempts aimed at the representative of the state."\n"I was sure that if a madman one day fired at the president, then it would be said in one way or another that he was from the extreme right," Le Pen said.\nThe attempt on Chirac comes as several European countries are facing a resurgence in support for far-right groups. Such movements have won votes by playing on fears of immigration, crime and economic stagnation.\nPim Fortuyn, the popular leader of the Netherlands' right-wing movement, was shot to death on May 6 in Amsterdam. Dutch police arrested a 32-year-old environment and animal rights activist on suspicion of assassinating him.\nFrance was shocked by Le Pen's strong showing in the first round of the presidential elections, when he knocked former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin out of the race.\nBernadette Chirac, the president's wife, also said "yes, clearly," when asked if the gunman was trying to kill her husband.\nDespite the attack, the Bastille Day parade, a colorful pageant with troops, armored vehicles and aircraft roaring overhead, continued uninterrupted.\nThe man was arrested at the top of the Champs-Elysees where it empties into Place Charles de Gaulle, site of the famous Arch of Triumph. He managed to reach the flag-bedecked Champs-Elysees despite heavy security. Police lined the avenue and mingled with crowds along the route.\nLater, Chirac hosted an annual Bastille Day garden party for thousands of invited guests on the palace grounds.\nHe made no reference to the assassination attempt in a brief appearance. After saluting the bravery of New York firefighters, who were invited guests, he dove into the crowd with a smile to shake hands.