France arrests anti-Semite black power leader

Paris (AFP) - Paris police have arrested a convicted anti-Semite and radical black power activist after he arrived in France to promote a new book, a police source told AFP Sunday.

Kemi Seba, head of the French branch of the New Black Panther Party, was detained Saturday after a public appearance at the Main d'Or theatre in the French capital, the source said.

A magistrate then ordered his incarceration on Sunday because Kemi Seba, whose real name is Stellio Capo Chichi, was wanted for having violated the terms of a 2009 suspended sentence for violence.

He has been living in Senegal and had told followers he would tour France to promote his recent book. The theatre where he had appeared is used by the controversial comedian known as Dieudonne, who has been repeatedly convicted of anti-Semitism.

Kemi Seba is no stranger to brushes with the law.

Two groups that he founded -- Tribu K and later Jeunesse Kemi Saba -- were dissolved by the French justice ministry for inciting "racist and anti-Semitic" ideology.

In October 2012 he was expelled from Switzerland for fear he would incite violence.