Saddam found support by Jean Marie Le Pens Front National. Christian fundamentalists in the party favored Saddam because Iraq had been a major arms supplier to the Falange in its battle against Muslims in Lebanon during the civil war. Anti-Americanism and anti-British sentiment played a role as well. In October 1990, Le Pen traveled to Baghdad as part of a delegation of right-wing parties from Europe to meet with Saddam Hussein. They returned with fifty-three European hostages that were held by Iraq in the months prior to the war. For his part, supporting Iraq was a clever way in which Le Pen could defuse criticism that he was anti-Arab and anti-Muslim. (Harvey G. Simmons, The French National Front: The Extremist Challenge to Democracy, 1996, pp. 101-102.)
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 21:00:58 +0000
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