27/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the leader of the French extreme right, Jean-Marie Le Pen, quit the European Parliament of which he had been a member since 1984. He will be replaced by Marie-France Stirbois who thus returns to the EP. "I will come back. Je reviendrai", said Mr Le Pen shortly before leaving the Chamber (during a pause in the session intended, as President Nicole Fontaine explained, to allow him to leave in a dignified manner while preserving the dignity of the Parliament). Earlier, Ms Fontaine had acknowledged before the Parliament the letter received from the French government informing her that the president of the National Front was stripped of his mandate as MEP. This loss of rights was notified after the rejection by the State Council of a final appeal by Mr Le Pen. It follows a condemnation, accompanied by a sentence of ineligibility, pronounced in a case involving aggression against one of the Socialist candidates during the legislative elections of 1997.