A senior French official said Saturday legal action would be taken over comments made praising Philippe Petain, France’s wartime head of state convicted of treason after World War II.

The row is the latest controversy over the legacy of Petain, a World War I hero disgraced for his collaboration with the Nazis.

Xavier Delarue, the government prefect of Meuse department in eastern France, said he would take action over remarks made following a mass for Petain organised by an association dedicated to restoring his reputation.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and a leading Jewish community group also condemned the comments.

The Association to Defend the Memory of Marshal Petain (ADMP) organised a mass Saturday at Saint-Jean-Baptiste church in Verdun, where Petain won a famous WWI battle in

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