Far-right activist Dominique Venner, commits suicide in Notre Dame

Police evacuated Paris' Notre Dame cathedral yesterday after a well-known far-right former activist committed suicide by shooting himself through his mouth in front of its main altar, a police source said.

Dominique Venner, 78, a historian known in France for his political essays, was carrying a letter but did not say anything before he shot himself dead in the mid-afternoon, the source said.

Venner, who had recently been campaigning against gay marriage in France, is said to have calmly walked past crowds milling around the 850-year-old cathedral, one of the most popular tourist sites in the world, before taking out a Herstal automatic pistol.

The cathedral was full of visitors when the horrific incident took place at around 4pm.

"There was screaming and lots of shouting following a loud bang," said one witness.

Police, the Paris prosecutor and church employees gathered inside the cathedral, which is visited by 13 million people from around the world every year, while puzzled tourists crowded outside on the island in the Seine River that has been home to the cathedral since the 12th century.

Jacquin said a few people had committed suicide by jumping from Notre Dame's twin towers, but he had no knowledge of anyone ever committing suicide on the altar. The Eiffel Tower occasionally shuts down because of suicides or attempts to jump off its ledges.