A jihadist group repeated its calls for French president Francois Hollande's assassination in revenge for the European nation's recent interventions in Africa, terrorist monitoring group SITE said Sunday.

The al-Minbar Jihadi Media Network, a militant Islamist web site with ties to al-Qaida, says it wants Muslims to stage attacks in France and on French interests elsewhere in support of Muslims in Central African Republic and Mali.

France's ruling Socialists on Monday responded to a stinging electoral setback by unveiling plans to block a potential breakthrough by the far-right National Front (FN) in nationwide local elections.

In a vote widely expected to trigger a far-reaching cabinet reshuffle by President Francois Hollande, the anti-immigration FN is on track to take control of up to 15 towns across the country following a better-than-expected showing in Sunday's first round of voting.

The French voted Sunday in the first round of local elections that could see the far-right surge as the Socialist government battles record unpopularity and the main opposition is beset by scandal.

President Francois Hollande was one of several key political figures who by midday had already voted in the first nationwide polls since his 2012 election, visibly relaxed despite concern that a drop in turnout by disillusioned Socialist party loyalists will boost the far-right National Front (FN).

Around 100 fugitives from ETA said Saturday they will return to the Spanish Basque country from southwestern France as the considerably weakened separatist group moves towards a historic disarmament.

Earlier this month western Europe's last major violent separatist movement said it would put its arsenal of weapons "out of operational use," more than two years after announcing a definitive end to armed activity.

France holds municipal elections Sunday amid high-voltage tension between the Socialist government, battling record unpopularity, and the main opposition beset by scandal, while the far right is tipped to make a strong showing.

The contest is the first nationwide vote since Socialist leader Francois Hollande was elected as president two years ago.

France's ruling Socialists and the main opposition party of Nicolas Sarkozy were locked in a no-holds-barred verbal war Friday after the ex-president compared the court-ordered tapping of his phones to spying by East Germany's Stasi police.

The spat came just ahead of local elections due over the next two weekends and was sparked by a vitriolic newspaper piece by Sarkozy, which drew a strong rebuke from President Francois Hollande.

France on Friday condemned Turkey's "shocking" decision to shut down Twitter and said the aspiring EU member had to respect freedom of expression and other basic rights.

The micro-blogging site was blocked in Turkey late Thursday, just hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to "wipe out" the service.

France has suspended most of its military cooperation with Russia, the French defense minister said Friday, as Paris was still mulling whether to nix the sale of two Mistral warships to Moscow.

Paris has suspended "the majority of its military cooperation with Russia" in the wake of Moscow's takeover of Crimea, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in the Estonian capital Tallinn.

France will offer to send four fighter jets to the Baltic states and Poland to boost NATO air patrols over the region, a source close to the French defense minister said Friday.

Besides the Rafale and Mirage 2000 aircraft, Paris will also offer to ensure "AWACS patrols from France around twice a week" if requested, the source said during the minister's visit to Estonian capital Tallinn amid the Ukraine crisis.

French ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy lashed out Thursday over the court-ordered wiretapping of his phones, with a comparison to snooping by East Germany's Stasi police that drew outrage from current leader Francois Hollande.

Sarkozy, 59, referred to the feared communist-era secret police in a stinging piece for the newspaper Le Figaro, in which he broke a long silence on mounting corruption claims against him that are undermining his chance of a comeback.