Politician advises young people to masturbate instead

Masturbate instead, Le Pen tells women's forum

From correspondents in Paris
April 06, 2007 03:11am
Article from: Agence France-Presse

FRENCH far-right presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen told a women's forum he was against making condoms freely available in schools - advising young people to masturbate instead.

"For those who feel the urge, I suggest the 'manu militari', it's a much simpler method," Mr Le Pen told the gathering organised by Elle magazine in Paris, and attended by all the main candidates in turn.

The 78-year-old National Front leader - who describes himself as "pro-life" - dodged a question on the right to abortion, saying it was "not a main preoccupation for French people".

Mr Le Pen has distanced himself from his party's call for France to repeal the right to abortion, but has called for a referendum on the question.

Currently in fourth place in the race for the April 22 first round, Mr Le Pen was whistled and booed by students at the event, who held up banners reading "F for Fascist, N for Nazi. No to the National Front".

Mr Le Pen stunned the nation when he qualified for the second round of voting against Jacques Chirac in the 2002 presidential election with nearly 17 per cent of votes.

He is taking part in his fifth presidential campaign and in an interview this week said he was confident of reaching round two once again.

The firebrand leader's incendiary comments have landed him in trouble with the law: he was convicted of Holocaust denial after he declared in 1987 that the gas chambers used by Nazi Germany to exterminate Jews were a "detail in the history of World War II".

In an interview in February, Mr Le Pen dismissed the September 11, 2001 attacks as an "incident", saying the death toll of 3000 was equal to the number of people killed in Iraq in a month.