WHEN a 23-year-old Islamic extremist died in a hail of police bullets as he leapt from his balcony on Thursday, his dramatic demise irrevocably changed the course of France's presidential election.
The gunfire in Toulouse had barely stopped when the leading candidates – President Nicolas Sarkozy, Socialist front-runner Francois Hollande, and National Front leader Marine Le Pen – began firing charges and counter-charges about the seven murders the young man committed.
Please enable cookies in your browser to display the rest of this article.