France's Le Pen visits immigrant suburb

The leader of the French far-right paid a surprise visit Friday to a rough suburb home to the veiled and robed immigrants he has blamed for the country's problems, calling the bemused residents legitimate children of France.

The unannounced flash campaign stop by Jean-Marie Le Pen was cloaked in secrecy, probably to head off any possible protests or violence against a man reviled by many minorities, in a town where even front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy fears to tread.

When his bus rolled to a halt, Le Pen made his way into a predominantly Muslim neighborhood, mobbed by photographers and veiled women in long robes, some snapping pictures too.

The 78-year-old candidate spent less than 30 minutes Friday in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil and canceled a second mystery stop on his tour.

"You are French citizens, the legitimate children of France who are part of our republic," Le Pen told the perplexed crowd at an Argenteuil shopping center.

Sixteen days before the April 22 first-round vote, Le Pen also was thumbing his nose at Sarkozy, the former interior minister who, in October 2005, enraged many youths during a visit to Argenteuil by calling troublemakers "scum." The remark helped fuel the riots that erupted days later and spread through French housing projects for three weeks. Sarkozy has since avoided campaigning in sensitive neighborhoods, including Argenteuil.

"Thank you all for having allowed me to speak here, where even our former interior minister dares not go," Le Pen said, standing in the plaza in front of a small shopping center.

Sarkozy's camp bristled at the media coup.

"It is we who decide the rhythm of our campaign, and it is not for our adversaries to impose anything on us," said Sarkozy's spokesman, Xavier Bertrand.

Sarkozy on Thursday abruptly canceled a trip to a neighborhood in Lyon, in southeast France, as dozens of protesters held up signs reading, "You are not welcome" and "Get out, Sarkozy."

Le Pen conceded later that secrecy was of the essence in making a successful trip to Argenteuil. Timing was, too, since he arrived in midmorning when the shopping center was nearly empty.

"I didn't want the Argenteuil town hall and leftist organizations to prepare a welcome like the one I had yesterday," Le Pen said, referring to insults tossed at him during a daylong forum on women for presidential candidates. Crowds heckled him, shouting "fascist!" and "racist!" He responded: "You bunch of imbeciles."

With a dramatic rise in voter registration in housing projects, poor neighborhoods have become a potential pool for ballots badly needed by the dozen candidates running in the election's first round. A second-round runoff between the top two candidates follows May 6.

Le Pen stunned France with his second-place performance in the 2002 first-round vote, which took him into the runoff against incumbent Jacques Chirac. Polls now consistently put him in fourth place, behind Sarkozy, Socialist candidate Segolene Royal and Francois Bayrou, who portrays himself as a middle-of-the-roader between the right and left.

Le Pen opposes immigration, especially from former French colonies in Muslim North Africa and in sub-Saharan Africa. He has been convicted of racism and anti-Semitism. However, he worked Friday to portray his stance _ France for the French _ as one that includes French citizens of all origins.

Not everyone was convinced.

"He came here as a publicity stunt," said 18-year-old Hakim Banoun. "We don't like him."

"This disgusts us. We're horrified by his visit," said Karim Lazaar, a 36-year-old of North African origin who was born in France.

Sarkozy "insulted us by calling us scum," Lazaar said. "But (Le Pen) has said worse."