World Notes FRANCE

Jean-Marie Le Pen, 59, thrives on controversy. As leader of the far-right National Front, he has won a small but loyal following by advocating such policies as the repatriation of recent immigrants from North Africa and the virtual imprisonment of AIDS victims in special hospitals. But none of those positions has drawn as much opposition as one he took last week. Appearing on a radio panel show, Le Pen was asked about Nazi extermination chambers in the Holocaust. "The gas chambers," he replied, "are a detail in the history of World War II."

The remark provoked a storm of condemnation. Former Socialist Premier Laurent Fabius called the National Front leader "quite simply a fascist." Le Pen, who has declared himself a candidate in next year's presidential elections, claimed that his reply had been "abusively interpreted" and blamed the furor on "the pro-immigrant lobby."