A police officer stands guard after a fatal shooting on the Champs Elysees in Paris, 20-04-2017.
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A day after a terrorist shooting left one policeman dead on the landmark avenue, three of the four main candidates canceled campaign plans and made declarations on tackling terror.
Bernard Cazeneuve, the Socialist prime minister, accused Le Pen of electoral opportunism in the face of a tragedy. He was also carrying the addresses of police stations.
France said its security forces were fully mobilized for a presidential election at the weekend after the killing of a police officer by an Islamist militant threw a dark shadow over the last day of an unpredictable campaign.
“It makes it more likely that Le Pen will qualify and means a slightly better chance that Fillon could qualify too”, Webber said.
“Fillon declared that “the fight against terrorism must be the absolute priority of the next president”.
According to the newspaper, the group was meant to be apolitical and its creation was prompted by the situation around the alleged mistreatment of a young man named Theo by the police.
France has been under a state of emergency since November 2015.
“We can not afford to lose this war”.
Macron, a 39-year-old moderate, is presenting himself as a guarantor of the European Union, promising reform and appealing to pro-Europe sentiment among the French electorate. The prime minister said the government has reviewed its already extensive election security measures and says it is “fully mobilized” for Sunday’s vote. “Do not give in to fear, do not give in to division, do not give in to intimidation”, he said. “Make sure you that, as you said, you work hard all the way through”.
The two top finishers on Sunday advance to a winner-takes-all presidential run-off on May 7.
Leftist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon urged the French people to “remain cool-headed” and “to not subject ourselves to hate, vengeance and resentment”.
But, even before the latest terror attack in the country earlier this week, the race to be the next leader of France was one with implications not only for the U.S. but for the rest of the world.
It is not clear to whom ISIS was referring in its claim.
A witness identified only as Ines told French television station BFM that she heard a shooting and saw a man’s body on the ground before police quickly evacuated the area where she works in a shop.
French President François Hollande convened a meeting of the country’s defense council Friday.
The CNN Paris bureau is on this street and staffers reported hearing a dozen shots.
Meanwhile, the two police officers injured in the attack are said to be out of danger. “He also wounded a second one, it would seem very seriously”, he said.
Passionate husbands and wives marched near the Champ de Mars to vent their anger over the death of the policeman on the Champs Elysees.
Cheurfi, 39, was shot and killed by officers at the scene.
Le Pen’s demand came as questions were raised as anger rose about how the suspected Champs-Elysées gunman, Karim Cheurfi, came to be released after being questioned in February over threats to kill police officers.
“He was not on the security watch list and had shown no signs of radicalisation despite his many years in prison”.
Investigators searched a home early on Friday in an eastern suburb of Paris believed to be linked to the attack and police detained for questioning three of the gunman’s family members.
Two radicalised men were arrested in the southern city of Marseille on Tuesday and authorities believe they had been trying to launch an “imminent” attack on the campaign.
“With an attack such as this one, I think the National Front will get a good score”. “She won’t be able to protect our citizens”, Macron said.
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France has been under a state of emergency for almost a year and a half, with more than 230 people killed in jihadist attacks since the start of 2015. Will have a big effect on presidential election!
