Le Pen says he'll make presidential runoff

PARIS, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Far-right French leader Le Pen" class="tpstyle">Jean-Marie Le Pen says he'll make the second-round run-off in 2007 presidential elections.

In remarks published Monday in Le Figaro newspaper, Le Pen predicted that five candidates from the center-right would be jostling for the presidency in the first round.

The sheer number or moderate conservatives, Le Pen said, gave him a good chance of capturing a top placement in the first round of voting.

The head of the far-right National Front party spoke at a weekend rally covered by Le Figaro.

"The winner of the primary will necessarily obtain no more than 15 percent," Le Pen said, "and it could well be me."

Le Pen placed second in the first round of voting in France's 2002 presidential elections, behind French President Jacques Chirac. However, Chirac won by a landslide in the second round in a vote many considered a referendum against extremism.