>From the AP wire: 500,000 French rally against Le Pen - - - - - - - - - - - - By Jamey Keaten May 1, 2002 | Paris --
- As many as 500,000 people demonstrated throughout France on Wednesday against extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, the largest turnout so far against the ultra-nationalist politician since he qualified for Sunday's presidential runoff. Even before a massive demonstration planned in Paris reached its peak, turnout in dozens of cities across France had reached 410,000, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. France Info radio put the combined total by early afternoon at 500,000. The anti-Le Pen rallies came after the right-wing leader held a much smaller demonstration in Paris to honor his party's heroine, Joan of Arc. Le Pen's supporters packed the Rue de Rivoli, a main artery through the capital, chanting "Le Pen, president" and waving tricolor flags and signs that said "I'm proud to be French." Then they marched to the Paris Opera in an annual May Day event that took on much added importance this year because of Le Pen's surprise candidacy. Le Pen lay a bouquet of white flowers at a gilded statue of Joan of Arc riding a horse and waving the national flag. For Le Pen's National Front party, the 15th century peasant girl who led a series of victories against the English is a symbol of French resistance against foreign "invaders." In a speech, Le Pen promised an "electoral earthquake" in the election's final round, which pits him against conservative incumbent President Jacques Chirac, who is expected to win easily. "The ground's going to crumble under their feet," he said. Police and observers estimated the pro-Le Pen crowd at 10,000 to 12,000 people, though Le Pen's party claimed there were as many as 100,000 marchers. Wednesday was expected to be the climax of growing protests against Le Pen, and marches were planned in some 70 cities around France. As the massive anti-Le Pen demonstration gatheredin Paris, tens of thousands gathered in other French cities to protest against the Le Pen candidacy. More than 50,000 people gathered in the eastern city of Grenoble, while 45,000 demonstrated in Bordeaux, police said. Some of the protests were combined with traditional May Day labor protests by unions. Maurice Dumontot, a 58-year-old retired police brigadier among the Paris pro-Le Pen marchers, called Le Pen "the Joan of Arc of modern times." "Le Pen is the unloved candidate, but he's our only chance to put things in order to stop all the crime and have people respect our laws," he said. A few people showed their anger at Le Pen's parade. One family, standing on a balcony above the marchers, hung out a banner that read, simply, "No." In a radio interview before the march, Le Pen said he had taken "all possible precautions" to ensure his own safety and said he'd asked his security officers to eject any neo-Nazi supporters who might try to join in. There were, however, right-wing skinheads seen marching in the parade. Riot police trailed the demonstrators, and security was tight. Some 3,500 police were being deployed in Paris alone. Since Le Pen's surprise success in the April 21 first round, the nationalist leader has complained he has been a "victim of a campaign of hate and lies." His daughter, also a National Front politician, said the march was the "proper response" to the wave of anti-Le Pen street protests that have swept France. "The problem is not the demonstrations, it's the defamation, the slander and the insults that people shout," Marine Le Pen told The Associated Press. "It's shameful and scandalous." On a bridge over the Seine, about 1,000 people honored the memory of a Moroccan man who was drowned by National Front supporters during a rally on May 1, 1995. A group of skinheads at the rally pushed the man, Brahim Bouarram, off the bridge. Le Pen has been convicted of racism and anti-Semitism numerous times. He blames immigration, particularly from Muslim North Africa, for unemployment -- which edged up in March to 9.1 percent -- and for rising crime. His success in the April 21 first round of elections stunned France and most of its allies and neighbors. The far-right leader wants to pull France out of the European Union and return to the franc, the currency abandoned in favor of the euro at the start of this year, as well as deport all illegal immigrants and tighten border controls. Associated Press _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
