French authorities are investigating whether the stabbing of a soldier in a Paris suburb was a copycat attack in the wake of the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby, killed in London this week.
"They tried to kill the soldier because he was a soldier," said French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
The soldier was on patrol in the area of La Defense when he was stabbed in the neck by an unknown man who escaped.
David Chazan reports from Paris.
