France: The Gaddafi Issue Grows

An assassination try in Paris—and a counterplot

The day began normally enough. At about 8:50, Christian Chapman, 60, left his apartment in the fashionable Seventh Arrondissement in Paris and turned toward his metallic-blue 1978 Plymouth, where his chauffeur was waiting, engine idling, to drive him to his post as the charge d'affaires in the U.S. embassy on the Place de la Concorde. Almost immediately, Chapman became aware of a bearded, athletic-looking young man in a black leather jacket who was approaching down the sidewalk. But Chapman sensed no danger until the man thrust...