Jean-Marie Le Pen has been suspended from France's National Front, a party that he founded and that his daughter Marine now leads.
The move comes after Le Pen had faced a disciplinary hearing on Monday over his recent inflammatory comments about the gas chambers which he said were just a "detail of history".
He was also in trouble for his interview with an extreme right magazine in which he defended France's Nazi collaborator Maréchal Pétain and saying Russia could help restore the "white world".
A special meeting of party members will be called "in three months" to decide whether to strip him of the title of honorary president, a statement said.
Following the decision Le Pen senior told reporters: "I've been disowned" and described the suspension as "a criminal act".
A furious Le Pen also attacked his daughter Marine, saying he was "ashamed" that she carried his name.
"The party members will be indignant," he said. http://www.thelocal.fr/20150504/national-front-set-to-punish-le-pen Comments to taglines82@gmail.com
