Sarkozy cuts rival's poll lead after shooting drama

[Reuters]

PARIS (Reuters) - A survey on Thursday showed President Nicolas Sarkozy cutting into his Socialist challenger's lead, the second opinion poll to show the conservative gaining since a deadly police standoff with an Islamist gunman gripped the nation.

The poll also showed a hard-left candidate surging to third place for the April 22 first election round, overtaking far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.Police in Toulouse on Thursday shot dead Mohamed Merah, who had killed three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three soldiers.The BVA poll, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday as the drama was still unfolding, gave Hollande 29.5 percent support for the first round against Sarkozy's 28 percent, with the president trimming his rival's lead back from 5 percentage points a month ago.It also showed far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon taking 14 percent of the vote, up from 9 percent a month ago and putting him for the first time ahead of Le Pen and centrist Francois Bayrou.The poll indicated Hollande would triumph in a May 6 run-off with an eight-point lead, although that was down from 12 points a month ago.The survey was the first since the Toulouse standoff ended on Thursday. Another poll conducted after Monday's school shooting showed Sarkozy taking a two-point lead over Hollande in the first round while Hollande would still win in the run-off with an eight-point lead.The Toulouse events could play into Sarkozy's hands as security and immigration are two of the areas in which the president is considered more credible than Hollande, according to the BVA poll.

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