Rightest Le Pen drops presidential ambition

After five attempts stretching back to 1981, French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen says he no longer wants to run for president.

The firebrand leader of the anti-immigrant National Front has been a fixture in national politics for the best part of three decades and his comment in an interview published yesterday marks the end of a controversial era.

"There would have to be exceptional circumstances for me to run again," Le Pen said.