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CNN Live Sunday
Neo-Nazi Fires Rifle at French President
Aired July 14, 2002 - 18:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: French police say a member of neo-Nazi and hooligan groups fired a shot near French President Jacques Chirac during a parade today. Police grabbed the man and took him into custody. Chirac was not hurt. Now, police are investigating what could have been an assassination attempt. CNN's Gavin Morris on what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GAVIN MORRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): France's traditional Bastille Day Parade, presided over by a reelected and resurgent Jacques Chirac, but as the president rode along Paris' Champs d'Elysees in an open top Jeep, a man in the crowd pulled a rifle from a guitar case and fired at least one shot. Police alerted by bystanders quickly arrested the man, the 25-year-old bustled away, along with the .22 caliber weapon.
President Chirac continued to review the parade, despite the apparent assassination attempt. The July 14th Bastille Parade is the focus of France's National Day celebrations. This year, amid the traditional military pomp, New York firefighters were invited as special guests. President Chirac was recently reelected for a new term after campaigning heavily against gun crimes. He defeated the right-wing challenger, Jean-Marie Le Pen. Police now say the arrested man is believed to be a member of French neo-Nazi groups.
Gavin Morris, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Chirac was recently reelected as president in a heated election race that showed the far right is making gains in France. "TIME" magazine Correspondent Nick Le Quefne joins me on the telephone from Paris to look at what may be involved in today's incident. Nick, can you hear me?
NICK LE QUEFNE, TIME MAGAZINE: Yes, Carol, hi.
LIN: So what do you think what happened today?
LE QUEFNE: Well, it Looks as if this -- I mean, in fact, an interior junior minister has gone on the record as saying that this looks like it was the action of a mentally unstable individual acting alone. LIN: Do you think it was an assassination attempt?
LE QUEFNE: It depends what you call an assassination attempt. The guy had a rifle and was apparently pointing it toward Chirac and pulled the trigger, so. The main point is that, I mean, he only got one shot off and it doesn't look like he was -- he wasn't a serious assassin.
LIN: When you take a look though certainly from an American's point of view here in the United States, when you look at the stories coming out of France, the election which Chirac narrowly won, Le Pen's rise in that race and the neo-Nazi movement being showcased there...
LE QUEFNE: Right.
LIN: ...the synagogue attacks in the wake of rising Middle East violence, give us a context of what is the mood in this country? What's happening in France right now that is either encouraging or allowing these things to happen.
LE QUEFNE: I think the point to make about this guy is everything that has come out about him reveals him to be a loner, in touch with far-right fringe groups but not the kind of, I mean nothing -- there's been no link with Jean-Marie Le Pen's front as you know for example. He was more in touch with -- he appears to be touch with skin head groups, hooligan groups, rather than organized, political factions.
LIN: But is there a larger sense there from your coverage, in that country, that there is a rise of extremism there? And if so, what do you attribute it to?
LE QUEFNE: There's a rise of far right extremism is one expression of an unease which exists here, a kind of tension between people who remember a traditional way of doing things here and the challenges which are being posed by globalization, France becoming -- France being an actor in a global economy.
LIN: Are you saying it's more economic and less racial pressures or are the two tied together?
LE QUEFNE: Yes, I think the racial pressures are an expression of the fears and uncertainties felt that are felt by part of the French population.
LIN: And explain to me what the racial pressures there are. I know there are lots of immigration questions across Western Europe, but in particular.
LE QUEFNE: The French immigration question is France's failure over the last 20 years to integrate a sizable population that immigrated from North Africa, which is brought over to work in factories at the time when the French economy needed factory workers, and France has proved incapable of integrating the sons and daughters of those immigrant workers as fully fledged members of society. LIN: So Nick, how is the Chirac government expected to view today's event and what is the Chirac government doing to try to ease some of the tensions there in that country?
LE QUEFNE: Well, I think it's important to be clear. I mean, France is not -- I mean, France isn't living a day-to-day race war. The government -- I mean the general situation's calm. I think it's important not to read too much into this incident either in connection with, as you were saying, the synagogue attacks, etc., because I think that this does, everything seems to suggest that this was the action of an isolated, mentally unstable individual acting alone. That said, as you know, this government was elected very much on law and order issues.
So, one could imagine that the reaction to this will be increased -- they've already been talking about increased policing so I'd have thought it would strengthen them in that. I think the one thing I just thought we would definitely probably see is more security for public figures, including Jacques Chirac, which will be hard for Chirac because he's very much a contact politician. He's made his -- I mean, he's got where he is by being very much the politician that goes out for -- who strays into crowds, who shakes hands, who's very, very hands-on. So, in a way, it's astonishing this hasn't happened before.
LIN: We had a president like that here, too. Thank you very much, Nick Le Quefne, "TIME" magazine in Paris.
LE QUEFNE: You're welcome.
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