WORLD : Anti-Racism Bill OKd in Paris

PARIS — The National Assembly approved a new anti-racism measure today widely believed to be aimed at Jean-Marie Le Pen and his far-right National Front party.

Under the bill, anyone convicted of practicing or promoting racial discrimination could be barred from holding any elected office or government job for five years.

The governing Socialists have blamed Le Pen and his colleagues for creating a climate of racial animosity. Le Pen advocates deporting North African immigrants and once called the Nazi gas chambers a “detail” of history.

The bill would require news media that report racist statements to give aggrieved groups the right of response. It also classifies as a crime the propagation of “revisionist” history questioning the existence or extent of Nazi genocide in World War II.