France's Hollande pledges "appropriate means" to ensure election security

French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday vowed to mobilize "all appropriate means" to ensure security during the two-round presidential election set to start on Sunday, his office said in a statement.

At a meeting at the Elysee Palace, Hollande discussed with some of his ministers and army chiefs "specific vigilance and protection measures, including those in relation with cyber filed, taken at all levels during election period."

"All appropriate means must be mobilized to ensure a good course of voting," he said.

On Tuesday, French police arrested two men in Marseille, south France, on suspicion of planning "an imminent and violent act on French territory," on the eve of presidential election.

Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said that weapons, three kilos of TATP and other bomb-making materials in addition to videos on jihadist propaganda were found during a police raid in the two suspects' apartment they had rented in the French city.

Identified as 24-year-old Clement Baur and Mahiedine Merabet, 30, the two Frenchmen were on the police watch list for radicalization. They had met while sharing a cell during a jail term for public offenses in 2015.

With a persistent high terrorism risk in the country where a state of emergency has already been imposed, Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said 50,000 police, gendarmes and soldiers would be deployed during the election's two rounds.

"Everything has been put in place to ensure the security of this big event for our democracy and our Republic. The security forces are mobilized everywhere across France to ensure the security of French people and to ensure the presidential campaign goes smoothly," he said on Tuesday. Endit