<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2715.400" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080>better late than never?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>THOUSANDS MARCH AGAINST LE PEN<BR><BR>Thousands of people took to the streets of French cities this morning<BR>after learning that Jean-Marie Le Pen, the National Front candidate,<BR>had qualified for the second-round runoff in the presidential<BR>elections.<BR><BR>Waving banners reading "I am ashamed" and "Right and left, united<BR>against Le Pen", the protesters gathered in Paris, Marseilles,<BR>Nantes, Toulouse, Montpellier and other French cities. Most were<BR>peaceful, but a breakaway group smashed windows on a Left Bank avenue<BR>and others threw barricades at the Place de la Concorde.<BR><BR>Jacques Chirac, who polled almost 20% of the vote, urged the French to<BR>unite to defeat the far right on May 5.<BR><BR>* Protests after French election shock<BR> <A href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,688756,00.html">http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,688756,00.html</A><BR><BR>* In pictures: the vote and the reaction<BR> <A href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,8542,688735,00.html">http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,8542,688735,00.html</A><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>