OTTAWA: The man who stopped the would-be assassin of French President Jacques Chirac says he left France for Canada because of intolerance towards North Africans in the country.

Algerian-born Mohammed Chelali was watching last Sunday’s annual Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Elysees with his two children, when he saw a man pull a rifle from a guitar case and fire a shot toward Chirac, who was riding in an open car.

Chelali (45) is a teacher in the Vancouver suburb of Langley in British Columbia province. Friends call the small man who immigrated to Canada 10 years ago after a brief stay in France, “very gentle.”

Fatima Ahmed, another member of Langley’s North African Muslim community, said she is proud Chelali had the courage and presence of mind to save the French president.

“It has been a very difficult year for Muslims living in the West,” she said. “There has been a rise in anti-Muslim hatred in North America, but it’s even worse in France, where Jean-Marie Le Pen has made Muslims scapegoats for every problem.”

This week, Chirac called Chelali and three others in the crowd who overpowered suspected sniper Maxime Brunerie, 25, “to thank them for their intervention, their courage and their (cool headedness),” his office said.

Because of the turmoil surrounding the recent French elections and the rise of Le Pen as a contender, Chelali said he appreciated the irony of an Algerian-born Muslim stepping into the hero’s role.

Chelali emigrated to France as a young adult. He moved frequently over the years, according to an autobiographical sketch posted on a community website.

He said he finally left France for Canada, in part because of the discrimination he felt as an Algerian and a Muslim.—Dawn/The InterPress News Service.