Man with rightwing links tries to burn French mosque, shoots two

An 84-year-old former candidate for France's ultra-right party shot and seriously wounded two men in their 70s who saw him trying to burn a mosque in southwest France, police said, as the government expressed "solidarity" with Muslims.

The octogenarian opened fire when two men, aged 74 and 78, came upon him trying to set fire to the door of the mosque in Bayonne on Monday afternoon, a police statement said.

The victims were brought to a nearby hospital with serious injuries, while the suspected shooter was later arrested near his home. He had also set fire to a car outside the Mosque.

Police identified the man as Claude Sinke, and said he had admitted to being the shooter.

Sinke stood as a candidate for Marine' le Pen's National Front in 2015 regional elections, according to the official list.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner offered his "solidarity and support to the Muslim community" after the incident.

In a tweet, Castaner said the events "pain every one of us" and said he shared the "shock and horror" Muslims must be feeling.

Le Pen, for her part, spoke of an "attack" and described it as "an unspeakable act".

The man's actions were "absolutely contrary to the values of our movement," she tweeted.

The mosque has been cordoned off for investigations and a bomb squad was sent to Sinke's home in Saint-Martin-de-Seignanx, a town of 5,000 people some 16 kilometres (10 miles) from Bayonne. A team of psychologists was put together to provide care for witnesses of the incident.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019