The far-right French politician, Jean-Marie Le Pen, has been attacked by a crowd of 50 protesters after he was fined $50,000 (£30,000) for breaking France's anti-racism laws.

Mr Le Pen was besieged at the airport on the French Caribbean island of Martinique as he changed flights. Demonstrators criticised him for saying the Holocaust was "but a footnote" of World War II, part of the remarks for which he was fined.

Local residents, including a pro-independence mayor, Garcin Malsa, burst through a police cordon into the VIP lounge of the airport, where Mr Le Pen was waiting to board a flight for Puerto Rico after arriving from France.

Calling his attackers "bandits" and "fanatics," Mr Le Pen said they were also guilty of cowardice. "I note the totally derisory police presence, which could even make one think this is an ambush," he added.

The case against Mr Le Pen was brought by nine civil rights groups and referred to a statement which the National Front leader made in Munich in early December, in which he also called the Nazi gas chambers a detail of World War II history.

The court in the Paris suburb of Nanterre said the fines would pay for the printing of an apology in 12 French newspapers.

A BBC Correspondent in Paris says the adverse publicity is unlikely to damage Mr Le Pen.

Verdict 'unfounded'

Mr Le Pen scoffed at the verdict, calling it a decision "unfounded in law" and "a carefully-crafted media event."

He attacked the groups that sued him for "using the suffering and the memory of those they claim to defend for partisan and financial ends".

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