FRANCE: French police yesterday addressed the still unanswered question of whether Maxime Brunerie, the 25 year-old neo-Nazi activist who attempted to assassinate President Jacques Chirac on Sunday, could have had an accomplice.
Two days before Mr Brunerie fired a shot from a .22 calibre rifle at the French President, he visited the man who he described as his "best friend". Police are hunting for that man, who like Mr Brunerie is a member of Unité radicale, an extreme-right wing group with links to Mr Bruno Mégret's National Republican Movement (MNR).
On Saturday, Mr Brunerie took tea in the home of a couple who are friends, also from the extreme right-wing movement. Police searched their house yesterday.
The couple said Mr Brunerie had repeatedly told them he intended to kill Mr Chirac, but claimed they thought it was a joke.
Mr Brunerie's sister and parents, with whom he lived in Courcouronnes, southwest of Paris, were on holiday in Spain when he tried to kill Mr Chirac. They returned to France for questioning yesterday.
It has not yet been decided whether Mr Brunerie will be committed to long-term psychiatric care, or is fit to be charged with attempted assassination. Mr Brunerie stood on an MNR ticket in the 2001 municipal elections, and attended Mr Mégret's celebration on the night of the April 21st first round of the presidential election, in which Mr Mégret was a candidate.
Mr Mégret was the deputy leader of Mr Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front until he defected to form his own party three years ago. Mr Le Pen still refers to his former ally as "Brutus".
Mr Mégret said he strongly condemned the attempt on Mr Chirac's life. "I deplore that some people are trying to give it significance, when the man is obviously a psychiatric case," he added. But Mr Mégret did not deny that Mr Brunerie belonged to his party.
The leader of Unité radicale, Mr Guillaume Luyt, has described its ideology as "defending a European identity that is threatened by immigration and borderless capitalism".
The group supported Mr Mégret when he split with Mr Le Pen. Its website says it is not in competition with the MNR but seeks "to create a place for expression by those who could be left unsatisified by (the MNR's) necessary moderation".
The extreme right-wing French groups frequented by Mr Brunerie celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday every April. Unité radicale is known for its anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism, and uses the swastika at its annual summer solstice rally in the Ariège region.