North African

"The North African community was quite mixed, and it was a trade route also for many people who were involved in trade in the earlier antiquity," she explained.

Various sites off California would be well-suited to develop water farms, from San Diego to Monterey, Bergstrom said, as would many water-scarce countries with deep offshore waters, such as Chile, Spain and North African nations.

The south of France in particular - where large numbers of North African immigrants had come to settle - began to swing behind the FN.

The area is also the home to a former World War II-era training center used by Gen. George Patton to prepare troops to fight in the North African deserts.

Both he and coalition partner Caroline van der Plas, among others, have pointed the finger at young people of Moroccan or North African descent.