PARIS - A person in a crowd has yanked French President Nicolas Sarkozy by the shoulder and nearly knocked him to the ground before being tackled by security officers.

The unusually aggressive incident occurred as the president shook hands with a crowd in the town of Brax in southern France on Thursday.

The identity of the person were unclear.

Images broadcast on French television showed Sarkozy reach over a metal barricade to greet onlookers, when an arm grabbed his suit roughly by the shoulder and pulled it toward the crowd.

Sarkozy started to lose his balance and fall, then immediately recoiled and righted himself. Security officers pulled the assailant to the ground.

Sarkozy's office would not immediately comment on the incident.