Le Pen says rivals are ‘soft on terror’

DENOUNCES ‘POISON OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM’

problem, to suppress it, to keep it at a distance like one sweeps dust under the carpet,” she said.

“The silence of the other candidates comes from shame, the shame of being a member, or even having led, a government which did nothing to lower the threat and even created the conditions for this scourge to develop,” she told the rally, which was held under tight security.

Police fired tear gas and arrested four people after about 500 people demonstrated against Le Pen and tried to march towards the rally. Some of them threw projectiles and firecrackers.

“Terrorist acts have multiplied throughout Europe during the campaign,” said Le Pen. “Here in Marseille, two fanatics were arrested before they committed odious crimes.”

Le Pen, 48, has spent years trying to grow support for the FN by campaigning on bread-and-butter issues but in the final days of the race, she has returned to its stock themes of immigration and national identity.

In a BFM television interview on Wednesday, she repeated that she would slash immigration, make it harder to get French nationality and crack down on suspected Islamists.

Polls show Le Pen, 39-year-old centrist Emmanuel Macron, conservative former prime minister Francois Fillon and hard left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon locked in a tight four-way race ahead of Sunday’s first round of voting.

A new survey published on Wednesday showed Macron leading on 23% to Le Pen’s 22.5% – both of them down slightly.

Fillon had improved to 19.5% while Melenchon had reached 19%, narrowing the gap with the frontrunners.

The top two will advance to a run-off vote on May 7.

Jean-Yves Camus, an expert on the FN, told AFP that Le Pen had returned to “fundamentals.” – AFP