A tourist’s tale: How he helped save Prez Chirac

A Canadian tourist described on Sunday how he helped foil an assassination attempt on French President Jacques Chirac during the nation&#146...

A Canadian tourist described on Sunday how he helped foil an assassination attempt on French President Jacques Chirac during the nation’s Traditional Bastille day parade.

‘‘Chirac was going by in his car when I felt the crowd moving to my right, then I saw, two or three metres away, a man aiming in the direction of the President’’ said Mohamed Chelali, who was watching the parade with his three children.

‘‘Someone hit the gunman’s hand and I grabbed a part of the weapon, and some metal bit of it fell off. A third person kept it pointed upwards,’’ Chelali said.

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	Shooter left net note
PARIS: Maxime Brunerie, the far-right student who fired a shot at French President Jacques Chirac on Sunday, had left a message on the internet urging people to watch television that day, police officials said on Monday. The officials refused to identify the website, but said it was in English and that UK web-users had told them. (Agencies)

‘‘The man refused to let go off the weapon and he did not talk. We held on to the gun, while someone held him by the neck. People were shouting ‘police!’ and that was when some CRS riot police came.

They handcuffed the young man and took him off,’’ he added. Police identified the would-be assassin as Maxime Brunerie, 25, a far-right neo-nazi militant with a police record. They said he admitted to wanting to kill the 69-year-old Chirac.

Police later said Brunerie had tried to commit suicide by turning the gun on himself.

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