PARIS - French police announced a sharp rise in the annual crime rate on Monday, bringing the issue of security back to the fore of France's increasingly bitter pre-election political battle, AFP reported.

As the 7.69-percent annual hike in recorded crime was announced, supporters of right-wing President Jacques Chirac lost no time in attacking the record of socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, their champion's closest rival.

"The figures for delinquency and crime perfectly illustrate the government's foolishly shortsighted policy," declared Jean-Louis Debre, the head of Chirac's Rally of the Republic (RPR) Party in the French Parliament.

"Instead of this make-do-and-mend legislation the government should have put forward a five-year program with precise financial promises," he said, attacking the varied reforms with which Jospin has tried to stem the rising tide of crime.

The figures released by police chiefs on Monday showed that for the first time last year the number of crimes reported in France broke the four-million barrier, with violent crime increasing faster than other categories.

Neither Jospin nor Chirac have officially announced their intention to stand in the the presidential elections in less than three months' time, but they are considered all but certain to be the frontrunners.

Jospin's left-wing coalition will also face a stern test in legislative elections shortly after the two-round presidential contest, and the prime minister has said both elections will be fought on his government's record.

But poll after poll has shown that crime will be one of the key issues in the campaign, and Chirac's allies have seized on it as an issue which could tarnish Jospin's reputation for competence.

"The laxity of the government's crime-fighting policy ... today constitutes an incitement to violence, which explains the explosion in the crime rate since 1997," RPR Party Secretary Christian Estrosi said.

While fear of crime is still highest in the cities, and in particular in the often lawless high-rise housing estates on the outskirts of French towns, the figures confirmed that deliquency is rising faster in the countryside.

The national police service, which is responsible for urban centers, recorded a 6.23-percent rise in crime, while the gendarmerie, which patrols the rural areas, recorded an 11.89-percent hike.