Anti-globalization activist Jose Bove to run for French president

Iconic French farmer and anti-globalization activist Jose Bove announced Thursday he is running for president of France, a move that could further split the country's divided left.

Bove, who gained fame in 1999 for ransacking a McDonald's restaurant near his home in southern France and has encouraged the destruction of genetically modified crops, said his campaign would focus on protecting the environment and fighting globalization.

"It is time to decree an electoral uprising against economic liberalism," Bove told reporters.

His candidacy boosts an already large field of candidates for the April and May two-round election - and offers mostly a threat to other candidates on the left. Frontrunners are conservative Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal.

In 2002, fractures among leftist parties were blamed for pulling support away from Socialist Lionel Jospin and handing far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen a shock second-place finish behind President Jacques Chirac.

The Socialists have sought to rally left-wing voters behind Royal, but her unorthodox views have alienated many.

Bove must still garner support from 500 local officials to formally register next month.

The mustachioed sheep farmer has had a number of run-ins with the law. In 2005, he was sentenced to four months in jail for destroying a field of genetically modified corn planted by a U.S. seed company, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., in southern France.