Le Pen to be tried for denying brutality of Nazi occupation of France

PARIS - French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen has been ordered to stand trial for comments denying the brutality of the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, judicial officials said on Wednesday.

Le Pen is under investigation for "justifying war crimes" and "complicity in contesting crimes against humanity." He could appeal the two separate rulings ordering him to stand trial, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In January 2005, the National Front leader gave an interview to the small, extreme-right newspaper, Rivarol. He was quoted as saying: "In France at least, the German occupation was not particularly inhumane, even if there were a few blunders, which is inevitable in a country of 550,000 square kilometers."

France's justice minister also expressed concern about an anecdote Le Pen reportedly told the magazine about the Gestapo stopping a potential massacre in northern France because it appeared to put the Nazi police force in a favorable light.

The minister asked for an investigation. A second probe was opened following a complaint by a group representing children of Jews deported during the war.

Some 76,000 Jews, including 12,000 children, were deported from France during World War II, many to Auschwitz. Only 2,500 survived.

Le Pen, 77, is looking to run in next year's presidential elections. He has a history of making remarks that jar France, and he has been convicted of racism or anti-Semitism at least six times. Once he called the Nazi gas chambers "a detail of the history of World War II."

The National Front leader blames immigrants, especially from North Africa, for high unemployment. He wants to deport all illegal immigrants and tighten border co