Summary

TAPE: EF02/0362 IN_TIME: 22:04:13 DURATION: 2:04 SOURCES: APTN RESTRICTIONS: DATELINE: Paris - 29 April 2002 SHOTLIST: 1. Pan from street to exterior of radio station "Europe 1" 2. Car convoy arriving 3. French Presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen surrounded by security getting out of car 4. SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Marie Le Pen, French presidential candidate "I'm fine, as you can see, despite the sudden wave of mud, of calumny and, I have to say, a Soviet atmosphere. Everybody is against Le Pen. We have finally discovered the reason for the French slump - it was Le Pen's fault, but if we get rid of him, everything will be fine. The Medef (union bosses) will waltz with the Communist Party, the Cardinal Lustiger with the Freemasons. That would be splendid! I am a factor of national unity!" 5. SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Marie Le Pen, French presidential candidate "(Q What do you have to say to foreign countries that are criticising you?) Mind your own business." 6. Le Pen entering radio building 7. Various security waiting outside building STORYLINE: French far-right presidential candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen, has poured scorned on his critics as he arrived for an interview at a French radio station. The French National Front leader quipped that he was a figure of national unity in France, with everyone blaming him for the country's economic problems. Le Pen's second place polling in the presidential primary on April 21 stunned the country. Since the French electorate learnt that Le Pen would face President Jacques Chirac in the May 5 run-off, protesters have taken to the streets on a daily basis. If elected, Le Pen says he will try to cut France's ties with the European Union, restore border controls to limit immigration and phase out income taxes. He opposes abortion, supports the death penalty and has often been accused of being anti-Semitic.