SARKOZY ‘ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT’ FOILED

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.12.2008 12:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A man wielding a hand-held electric self-defense
weapon was arrested Monday while trying to enter the grounds of the
French presidential palace, a police official said.

A photographer witnessed guards wrestling the man to the ground
at the main entrance to the Elysee Palace, where President Nicolas
Sarkozy works.

The man was armed with a self-defense "shocker" less powerful than a
taser, the police official said – not a knife, as first believed. The
official was not authorized to speak publicly about the arrest and
asked not to be identified by name.

The 25-year-old man was being held at a police station of Paris’
8th district where the Palace is located, the official said. The
suspect’s motive was not immediately clear.

Sarkozy was meeting with Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro
at the time of the arrest around 12:40 p.m. (11:40 GMT). Djukanovic
met with the French leader as part of his country’s efforts to join the
European Union. France currently holds the bloc’s rotating presidency,
The Associated Press reports.