Fear engulfs President polls after Paris attack

Paris: The killing of a policeman on Paris’s Champs Elysees, claimed by ISIS,  rocked France’s presidential race Friday with just two days to go before voting in the closest election for decades.

Bloodshed had long been feared ahead of Sunday’s first round of the election after a string of attacks since 2015, and the shooting propelled the jihadist threat to the fore.

A note praising ISIS was found near the body of the 39-year-old French attacker, who shot dead one officer and wounded two others before being killed by police. The note bolstered ISIS claim that the perpetrator, named as Karim Cheurfi, was one of its “fighters”.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen —  who is locked in a tight four-way contest with centrist Emmanuel Macron, conservative Francois Fillon and Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon — moved quickly to present herself as the toughest of the four on terrorism. “This war against us is ceaseless and merciless,” she said.

It was unclear how the election would be impacted by the shooting, which came days after two men were arrested in Marseille on suspicion of plotting an imminent attack.

The shooting follows a series of strikes around Europe in the last month, targeting Stockholm, London and Saint Petersburg.

Until now, surveys showed voters more concerned about unemployment and the economy than terrorism or security, though analysts warned this could change in the event of violence.