The French cabinet has approved a ban on the far-right group linked to the man who allegedly tried to kill President Jacques Chirac last month.

Maxime Brunerie, who opened fire with a hunting rifle at the Bastille Day parade in Paris, is said to involved with the Radical Unity group.

[Radical Unity's] ideology is founded on the exaltation of the white race and a hatred of the foreigner

Nicolas Sarkozy, quoted by spokesman

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said the group was being dissolved under a law banning organisations that provoked racial discrimination or ethnic hatred.

France's highest body, the Council of State, must now give the ban its final approval.

Mr Brunerie, 25, is under investigation for attempted murder. He has been receiving psychiatric care since his arrest.

Radical Unity is believed to act as an umbrella group for several extreme-right movements.

Anti-Semitic

The law banning it dates back to 1936, when the authorities were trying to curb extremist groups and militias.

Mr Sarkozy told the cabinet that the group was anti-Semitic and xenophobic.

"Radical Unity preaches, notably through its publications, a hostility as a matter of principle to all forms of immigration, and its ideology is founded on the exaltation of the white race and a hatred of the foreigner," said spokesman Jean-Francois Cope, quoting Mr Sarkozy.

The group said before the ban that it would regroup if the ban went ahead. It also insisted it was not a militia group, as targeted by the law.

Mr Brunerie attempted to shoot the president after pulling the rifle from a guitar case. He managed to fire one shot, before being halted by members of the public.