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Guards Thwart 'Assassin' at Sarkozy Home

Armed man tackled by security as he tries to enter palace grounds

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 16, 2008 3:11 AM CST

(Newser) – French authorities foiled a suspected assassin trying to storm the presidential palace yesterday, the Daily Mail reports. The man, armed with a knife and an electric stun-gun type of weapon, tried to slip past guards at President Nicolas Sarkozy's residence. He was stopped at gunpoint after a violent struggle and is being held in custody for questioning.

The security team is treating the incident as an attempt on Sarkozy's life, said a French official. The 25-year-old suspect had concealed the weapons under a heavy, military-style jacket. Sarkozy was inside the palace at the time, holding a meeting with Montenegro's prime minister.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy gestures during a speech at the Elysee Palace at a Paris reception of mayors of French overseas territories last month.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy gestures during a speech at the Elysee Palace at a Paris reception of mayors of French overseas territories last month.   (AP Photo/Gerard Cerles, Pool)
Police officers hold an unidentified man on the ground at the entrance to the Elysee Palace at the Elysee Palace in Paris yesterday.
Police officers hold an unidentified man on the ground at the entrance to the Elysee Palace at the Elysee Palace in Paris yesterday.   (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
France's Republican guards walk past a decorated Christmas tree in the courtyard of the Elysee Palace in Paris last year.
France's Republican guards walk past a decorated Christmas tree in the courtyard of the Elysee Palace in Paris last year.   (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy pauses before speaking during a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels last week.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy pauses before speaking during a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels last week.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
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