French candidate Hollande honors deported Jews

PARIS - The Associated Press

Francois Hollande, Socialist party candidate for the 2012 French presidential elections, looks at 2,500 photographs of young Jews deported from France during WWII, as he visits the Shoah Memorial in Paris. REUTERS Photo

French presidential candidate Francois Hollande has honored Jews who were deported during the Holocaust and expressed concern about Iranian threats toward Israel.

Hollande visited a memorial and museum to the Holocaust in Paris on Sunday and praised its work as crucial "for Jews and for humanity." Some 76,000 Jews were deported from Nazi-occupied France to concentration camps, and the overwhelming majority never returned.

Hollande said Iranian threats against Israel "disturb me," but gave no indication of what his policy toward Iran would be.

Hollande, a Socialist, tops polls ahead of a May 6 runoff against conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sarkozy has worked to improve French relations with Israel and taken a hard line against Iran.