Skinheads march for Le Pen

12 April 2012

Chanting "France for the French", at least 10,000 of supporters of far-right presidential contender Jean-Marie Le Pen marched in Paris today as a wave of opponents demonstrated against him across the country.

Marchers young and old carried signs saying "Le Pen for President" and "Proud to be French" and waved French flags under the watchful eye of ranks of police ahead of a massive anti-Le Pen demonstration due later in the day.

Up to 3,500 police were on the streets of Paris to prevent a repeat of previous May Day violence after the anti-immigrant National Front leader stunned Europe by winning through to Sunday's runoff election against President Jacques Chirac.

Early police estimates put the National Front crowd at 10,000, twice the size of last year's rally, but the extreme right party said an unprecedented 100,000 people had turned out.

Le Pen, 73, laid a wreath at a gilded statue of Joan of Arc, the French medieval heroine the National Front has made its patron saint, on the route of the march, bound for the Place de l'Opera square where he addressed his supporters.

National Front stewards in dark glasses kept order in the march and Le Pen, a former paratrooper who once called the Holocaust a "detail" of history, pledged to keep neo-Nazis away.

"I have nothing to do with that type of person," Le Pen told RTL radio. "Our stewards, as far as they can, are under orders to keep those troublemakers away."

This afternoon a counter-rally staged by anti-Nazi supporters was being held - deliberately timed to start at least two hours after the Le Pen demonstration was due to have dispersed.

Police were taking no chances, sealing off streets in the hope of ensuring the two political elements avoided contact later today.

Virtually all shops, cafes and restaurants in the centre of Paris were closed, with only one or two traditional "brasseries" remaining open along the National Front marching route.

One waiter, asked if he was concerned about potential trouble, shrugged and said: "This happens every May Day. We have to keep open for our customers."

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