"Taking advantage"

The leader of the French far-right National Front, Marine Le Pen, on Sunday accused left wing political parties and groups of "despicable behavior" by making political capital out of the shootings and bomb attacks in Norway.

Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people on July 22, has said he carried out the attacks because of his opposition to Norwegian immigration policy.

In a statement, Le Pen claimed that the left had used the attacks to smear her party - which campaigns against immigration - and its objectives.

Le Pen said her party had clearly distanced itself from the attacks against Oslo's government district and a meeting of the ruling Labor party's youth wing.

"From the first hours following the Oslo tragedy, several parties of the left and affiliated associations have, in a particularly shameful and cynical way tried to take advantage of the situation." said Le Pen.

She condemned Breivik's actions as "cowardly and barbaric."

Controversial attack on policies

Le Pen made no mention of controversial comments by her father and former party leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who had said that the Norwegian government's "naivety" was to blame for the mass killing, accusing Norway of not correctly handling immigration.

Mainstream politicians reacted to those comments with outrage, urging Marine Le Pen to condemn them.

Breivik made Muslim immigration a major issue in a 1,500-page document he published shortly before the attacks.

Author: Richard Connor (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Andreas Illmer