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Labor fight shuts down Corsica

BASTIA, Corsica - Youths throwing stones and shooting flare guns clashed with police and an apparent rocket attack ravaged a docked French customs boat on Saturday in Corsica - the latest violence on the Mediterranean island swept up in wave of labor strife.

The skirmishes capped days of labor unrest on the French Mediterranean island triggered by government plans to sell control of the SNCM ferry operator. Hours earlier on Saturday, riot police evicted unionists who had blockaded a Corsican port for four days.

The strikes at ports in Corsica and the city of Marseille on the French mainland spread to the island's airports on Friday. Authorities said about 15,000 tourists were stranded, though Saturday's police raid in the Ajaccio port was expected to free up some ferry traffic.

The workers' protests began after the government announced its privatization plans on Monday and have blended with Corsica's long-simmering independence movement, which has mostly involved low-level violence.

Late Saturday, a huge explosion echoed through the port in the northern town of Bastia, and a reporter saw a gaping entry hole near the helm of the 82-foot customs boat indicating a rocket attack. No one was injured.

Earlier in the day, at least 2,000 protesters swarmed into the streets into Bastia, where 500 police were on hand to keep order. The march marked the first time that unions had come together in a united protest in Corsica in 15 years. Organizers said at least 9,000 people marched.

At the end of the mostly peaceful march, riot police guarding a government office building fired tear gas at about 50 youths who had pelted the officers with firecrackers, stones and flares. One officer was hospitalized with severe head injuries, officials said.

Firefighters in Corsica temporarily walked off the job in support of the unionists. Ajaccio's professional soccer match today at home against Lens was called off amid the turmoil.

In Marseille on Saturday, police stormed two oil terminals that had been blockaded since Monday, opening them up to provide crude oil to refineries, officials said.

Earlier this week, striking unionists commandeered an SNCM ferry before police commandos stormed the vessel Wednesday. Four union members arrested in Wednesday's raid on the ferry were released Friday and returned Saturday to a heroes' welcome in Corsica.

Pierre-Rene Lemas, the top federal official in Corsica, said some stocks of medicines and blood would run out by Monday evening if ferry routes did not resume quickly.

"The entire economy, the entire population is suffering the consequences of this labor conflict," he said.

[Last modified October 2, 2005, 04:44:39]