Paris, June 30 (IANS) An assailant grabbed French President Nicolas Sarkozy and tried to pull him during a visit to a town in southern France Thursday, media reports said.
An unidentified man yanked the president by the shoulder before being tackled by security officers, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported.
Sarkozy had come out to the streets to shake hands with the crowd in Brax town.
Images shown on French television showed Sarkozy reaching over a metal barricade to greet bystanders, when an arm grabbed his suit roughly by the shoulder and pulled it toward the crowd.
Sarkozy started to lose balance and fall, but immediately recoiled and righted himself. Security officers pulled the assailant to the ground.
The president’s office did not comment on the incident.
The man’s identity and motives were unclear but police said he was a 32-year-old who works in the theatre business, the Telegraph said.
