Post by Bozur on Oct 3, 2005 18:22:59 GMT -5
Corsica Strife Challenges Young Gov't.
By THIERRY BOINET, Associated Press Writer
Sun Oct 2, 6:46 PM ET
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051002/ap_on_re_eu/france_corsica_7;_ylt=AnAO1zSaYLeyim6qn8m7JXjlWMcF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5bGVna3NhBHNlYwNzc3JlbA--
People jubilate as a ferry boat of the private company Corsica Ferries arrives at the harbour of Bastia, Corsica island, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2005. Around 7,000 stranded tourists were set to leave Corsica on Sunday. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
BASTIA, Corsica - The flame of protest in Corsica — the bucolic birthplace of Napoleon long known for its rebellious streak — is burning bright again as labor strikes feed off the simmering independence movement on the French Mediterranean island.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, facing one of his sternest labor tests so far, was sending his economics and transportation ministers for talks with unionists Monday in Marseille, his office said Sunday.
Corsica has suffered more than two decades of low-level violence by organized crime gangs and separatists seeking independence from France.
The latest upheaval began Sept. 26, after the government announced plans to privatize the SNCM state-run ferry operator linking Corsica with mainland France.
Protesting sailors responded with a series of strikes that shut down port activities on the island and in southeast France, and in one dramatic case, commandeering a ferry and steering it toward Corsica.
Villepin ordered a helicopter-borne police raid to recover the vessel Wednesday, and no one was injured. A day later, he announced a new rescue plan for SNCM that backed off plans for a full privatization.
But restive union leaders, drawing on lingering discontent in Corsica, pressed on with strikes and protests. Clashes erupted on the island between stone-throwing youths and riot police, with rocket attacks on government property reported on Friday and Saturday.
Police on Saturday forcibly evicted striking workers who had occupied three ports in southeast France and the western Corsican town of Ajaccio to allow oil shipments and ferry traffic to resume.
By Sunday, tensions were easing. Union officials called a halt to the strikes in all Corsican ports, at least until Tuesday.
"We aren't extremists," said Alain Mosconi, secretary of the Corsican Workers Union. Ships had been allowed to leave, he said, "because we want to work in the collective interest of all Corsicans."
At least a third of the estimated 15,000 tourists stranded on Corsica for days began returning to the mainland as ferry service resumed.
Pierre-Rene Lemas, the prefect for Corsica, ordered all ferries leaving on Sunday to be screened by anti-bomb squads to "avoid bad surprises, and especially reassure the passengers."
In office since June, Villepin's face-off with the sailors offered a glimpse of what could loom as workers nationwide geared up for a one-day strike on Tuesday to protest his conservative government's economic and labor policies — possibly his biggest labor challenge yet.
While many French are frustrated by on-and-off separatist violence on Corsica, nicknamed "The Beautiful Island," thousands of French tourists pour onto its rugged hills overlooking azure Mediterranean waters each year. French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte — known to some history buffs as "The Corsican" — was born in Ajaccio in 1769.
The island has long been a bugbear for Paris authorities, notably since a separatist movement started gathering steam about a generation ago.
The previous big flare-up was two years ago, after a Paris court convicted eight separatists in connection with the 1998 killing of the top French official in Corsica.
By THIERRY BOINET, Associated Press Writer
Sun Oct 2, 6:46 PM ET
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051002/ap_on_re_eu/france_corsica_7;_ylt=AnAO1zSaYLeyim6qn8m7JXjlWMcF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5bGVna3NhBHNlYwNzc3JlbA--
People jubilate as a ferry boat of the private company Corsica Ferries arrives at the harbour of Bastia, Corsica island, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2005. Around 7,000 stranded tourists were set to leave Corsica on Sunday. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
BASTIA, Corsica - The flame of protest in Corsica — the bucolic birthplace of Napoleon long known for its rebellious streak — is burning bright again as labor strikes feed off the simmering independence movement on the French Mediterranean island.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, facing one of his sternest labor tests so far, was sending his economics and transportation ministers for talks with unionists Monday in Marseille, his office said Sunday.
Corsica has suffered more than two decades of low-level violence by organized crime gangs and separatists seeking independence from France.
The latest upheaval began Sept. 26, after the government announced plans to privatize the SNCM state-run ferry operator linking Corsica with mainland France.
Protesting sailors responded with a series of strikes that shut down port activities on the island and in southeast France, and in one dramatic case, commandeering a ferry and steering it toward Corsica.
Villepin ordered a helicopter-borne police raid to recover the vessel Wednesday, and no one was injured. A day later, he announced a new rescue plan for SNCM that backed off plans for a full privatization.
But restive union leaders, drawing on lingering discontent in Corsica, pressed on with strikes and protests. Clashes erupted on the island between stone-throwing youths and riot police, with rocket attacks on government property reported on Friday and Saturday.
Police on Saturday forcibly evicted striking workers who had occupied three ports in southeast France and the western Corsican town of Ajaccio to allow oil shipments and ferry traffic to resume.
By Sunday, tensions were easing. Union officials called a halt to the strikes in all Corsican ports, at least until Tuesday.
"We aren't extremists," said Alain Mosconi, secretary of the Corsican Workers Union. Ships had been allowed to leave, he said, "because we want to work in the collective interest of all Corsicans."
At least a third of the estimated 15,000 tourists stranded on Corsica for days began returning to the mainland as ferry service resumed.
Pierre-Rene Lemas, the prefect for Corsica, ordered all ferries leaving on Sunday to be screened by anti-bomb squads to "avoid bad surprises, and especially reassure the passengers."
In office since June, Villepin's face-off with the sailors offered a glimpse of what could loom as workers nationwide geared up for a one-day strike on Tuesday to protest his conservative government's economic and labor policies — possibly his biggest labor challenge yet.
While many French are frustrated by on-and-off separatist violence on Corsica, nicknamed "The Beautiful Island," thousands of French tourists pour onto its rugged hills overlooking azure Mediterranean waters each year. French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte — known to some history buffs as "The Corsican" — was born in Ajaccio in 1769.
The island has long been a bugbear for Paris authorities, notably since a separatist movement started gathering steam about a generation ago.
The previous big flare-up was two years ago, after a Paris court convicted eight separatists in connection with the 1998 killing of the top French official in Corsica.