DannyBoyUK
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Police in Paris have arrested a man after an apparent attempt to assassinate President Jacques Chirac during the Bastille Day parade.
The man, standing near the Arc de Triomphe, took a hunting rifle out of a guitar case and fired a shot as Mr Chirac was reviewing troops in an open-top jeep at the start of the military parade.
Cries from the crowd alerted police and the man was overpowered and taken away.
The president's wife, Bernadette, has described the incident as an assassination attempt, but Mr Chirac himself has yet to comment on the incident.
Police said in a statement that the man had fired a shot from a .22 calibre rifle before officers wrestled him to the ground.
They said the man had admitted that he had wanted to kill President Chirac.
Police record
The suspect was named by the French news agency AFP as Maxime Brunerie, 25
The Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, said the man was a "militant of the extreme-right... known for his violence and with a police record".
Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the French far-right National Front, denied any connection to the gunman and condemned "all assassination attempts aimed at the representative of the state".
He added: "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."
Mrs Chirac, asked whether there had been an attempt on her husband's life, said: "Yes, it's clear."
Nicolas Couteau, a spokesman for the police union Force Ouvriere, said the man had fired in the direction of the president's car, but the bullet went astray and no-one was injured.
"I don't think there was any plot because the shooter would have used a gun of a larger calibre. It looks like the act of a demented person," he added.
The parade - which marks the anniversary of the French Revolution in 1789 - continued down the Champs Elysees without interruption.
In a traditional televised interview after the parade, President Chirac was not asked about the shooting and he did not mention it.
But questions are now being asked about how the man managed to bring a gun to the Champs-Elysees despite heavy security.
The incident has also reawoken concerns in France over the emergence of the far-right.
Political upsets
President Chirac was returned to power in May, but only after voters from left and right rallied behind him against Mr Le Pen.
The Bastille Day incident immediately drew comparisons with the Frederick Forsyth novel, Day of the Jackal.
In that story, a professional assassin with a concealed high-powered rifle attempts to kill French President Charles de Gaulle during a military parade in the 1960s.
Franco-American relations are the central theme of this year's commemoration and the march-past was led by 170 US military cadets.
New York firefighters - as well as relatives of some who died on 11 September - were among the guests of honour at a garden party hosted by President Chirac after the parade.
The man, standing near the Arc de Triomphe, took a hunting rifle out of a guitar case and fired a shot as Mr Chirac was reviewing troops in an open-top jeep at the start of the military parade.
Cries from the crowd alerted police and the man was overpowered and taken away.
The president's wife, Bernadette, has described the incident as an assassination attempt, but Mr Chirac himself has yet to comment on the incident.
Police said in a statement that the man had fired a shot from a .22 calibre rifle before officers wrestled him to the ground.
They said the man had admitted that he had wanted to kill President Chirac.
Police record
The suspect was named by the French news agency AFP as Maxime Brunerie, 25
The Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, said the man was a "militant of the extreme-right... known for his violence and with a police record".
Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the French far-right National Front, denied any connection to the gunman and condemned "all assassination attempts aimed at the representative of the state".
He added: "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."
Mrs Chirac, asked whether there had been an attempt on her husband's life, said: "Yes, it's clear."
Nicolas Couteau, a spokesman for the police union Force Ouvriere, said the man had fired in the direction of the president's car, but the bullet went astray and no-one was injured.
"I don't think there was any plot because the shooter would have used a gun of a larger calibre. It looks like the act of a demented person," he added.
The parade - which marks the anniversary of the French Revolution in 1789 - continued down the Champs Elysees without interruption.
In a traditional televised interview after the parade, President Chirac was not asked about the shooting and he did not mention it.
But questions are now being asked about how the man managed to bring a gun to the Champs-Elysees despite heavy security.
The incident has also reawoken concerns in France over the emergence of the far-right.
Political upsets
President Chirac was returned to power in May, but only after voters from left and right rallied behind him against Mr Le Pen.
The Bastille Day incident immediately drew comparisons with the Frederick Forsyth novel, Day of the Jackal.
In that story, a professional assassin with a concealed high-powered rifle attempts to kill French President Charles de Gaulle during a military parade in the 1960s.
Franco-American relations are the central theme of this year's commemoration and the march-past was led by 170 US military cadets.
New York firefighters - as well as relatives of some who died on 11 September - were among the guests of honour at a garden party hosted by President Chirac after the parade.
