A French soldier patrolling a business area of western Paris was stabbed in the neck on Saturday by a man who quickly fled the scene and was still being sought, a police source said.

The soldier, patrolling as part of France's Vigipirate anti-terrorist surveillance plan, was injured in the stabbing around 1800 p.m. but would survive, the source said.

French daily Le Parisien cited police sources as saying the suspected attacker was a bearded man of North African origin about 30 years old, and was wearing an Arab-style garment under his jacket.

- Reuters