"For those who feel the urge, I suggest the 'manu militari', it's a much simpler
method," Mr Le Pen told the gathering organised by Elle magazine in Paris, and
attended by all the main candidates in turn.
The 78-year-old National Front leader - who describes himself as "pro-life" -
dodged a question on the right to abortion, saying it was "not a main
preoccupation for French people".
Mr Le Pen has distanced himself from his party's call for France to repeal the
right to abortion, but has called for a referendum on the question.
Currently in fourth place in the race for the April 22 first round, Mr Le Pen
was whistled and booed by students at the event, who held up banners reading "F
for Fascist, N for Nazi. No to the National Front".
Mr Le Pen stunned the nation when he qualified for the second round of voting
against Jacques Chirac in the 2002 presidential election with nearly 17 per
cent of votes.
He is taking part in his fifth presidential campaign and in an interview this
week said he was confident of reaching round two once again.
The firebrand leader's incendiary comments have landed him in trouble with the
law: he was convicted of Holocaust denial after he declared in 1987 that the
gas chambers used by Nazi Germany to exterminate Jews were a "detail in the
history of World War II".
In an interview in February, Mr Le Pen dismissed the September 11, 2001 attacks
as an "incident", saying the death toll of 3000 was equal to the number of
people killed in Iraq in a month.
