Ségolène Royal, the French presidential candidate, was embroiled in a damaging row on a visit to the Middle East yesterday after appearing to condone a Hezbollah MP who denounced US “insanity” and compared Israel to the Nazis.

Ms Royal, the first woman with a realistic chance of winning the French presidency, was struggling to extricate herself from the controversy sparked by a meeting in Beirut with MPs, including Ali Ammar of Hezbollah.

In a 20-minute tirade Mr Ammar attacked “unlimited American insanity” for sending troops into Afghanistan and Iraq. He then said that Israeli “Nazism” was no better than Hitler’s Third Reich.

Ms Royal, who is on her first overseas trip since winning the Socialist Party primary, replied: “Thank you for being so frank. I agree with a lot of the things you have said, notably your analysis of the US.”

Her remark provoked a furore in France, where Philippe Douste-Blazy, the Foreign Minister, said that she had a simplistic vision of the Middle East. François Goulard, the Research Minister, said: “Ségolène Royal obviously doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

Ms Royal was trying to limit the damage last night. She said that her interpreter had failed to translate Mr Ammar’s comparison between Israel and the Nazis. If he had, she would have walked out, she said.

Ms Royal went on to claim that she had not meant to attack Americans in general for insanity but only the Bush Administration over the war in Iraq.

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