France protests begin under heavy security as police seek to prevent fresh unrest

By Juliette Jabkhiro and Alessandro Parodi

PARIS, Oct 24 (Reuters) – Demonstrators gathered in Paris and cities across France on Saturday under the watch of 70,000 police officers, as the government sought to prevent a repeat of the riots and looting that rocked the country last weekend.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 135 people had been arrested nationwide by early afternoon, many following pre-emptive searches that uncovered fireworks, ball bearings and other items that could be used as weapons.

“We have to be ultra, ultra responsive. We have significant calls for disruption from political groups and quite simply from criminals,” he told reporters. “It is going to be a long day.”

While the start of the main Paris march was peaceful, police fired tear gas at crowds in Lyon, France’s third-largest city.

The government has deployed 10,000 more police and gendarmes than on October 17, when protests over the cost of living and deteriorating public services descended into some of the worst unrest France has seen in years.

SHOPS, MUSEUMS SHUT

Much of central Paris took on the appearance of a city under lockdown, with shopkeepers boarding up storefronts, museums closing their doors and more than 20 metro stations shut.

Business groups urged retailers to remain closed after thousands of shops and businesses were damaged or looted across France last weekend.

“There are hardly any customers, so it’s not really worth staying open,” said Oskar, manager of a Kiton boutique in Paris.

Several of the capital’s best-known cultural institutions, including the Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay and the Paris Opera, closed for the day as a precaution, leaving tourists frustrated.

“Everything’s boarded up and we’re not quite sure where we should be,” said Xavier Dolliole, a tourist from the US city of New Orleans.

The route for Paris’ main demonstration was settled only after a legal battle triggered by a last-minute police order moving organisers away from the city centre towards the southeastern fringes of the capital.

Police argued the original route passed through areas with a high concentration of businesses similar to those targeted last weekend. Leftist leaders said the late change was aimed at causing confusion and keeping people away.

“Once again, those in power are creating disruption for the marches and impossible deadlines for organisations to reorganise themselves,” said hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who joined the crowds on the streets of Paris.

FAR-RIGHT PARTY HOLDS CONGRESS

Many demonstrators accused the government of over-reacting, with soldiers dispatched to patrol the Champs-Elysees. “We shed tears for shops, not for the people who are being impoverished all year round,” said Clara Lebbadi, a 22-year-old arts student.

“My friend and I almost didn’t come because we were scared, but we came precisely because it’s important not to let repression win,” she added.

The first authorised march on Saturday passed off peacefully in Orléans, around 120 km (75 miles) south of Paris, where demonstrators rallied against Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally as it held a party congress in the city.

Tensions were heightened by a shooting west of Paris on Friday in which a gunman suspected of acting out of Islamophobic hatred killed one person and wounded four others, including a 12-year-old girl.

“We have come to tell the far right, face-to-face, that we are not afraid,” said Bally Bagayoko, the mayor of Saint-Denis and a member of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer, Bertrand Boucey, Alessandro Parodi in Paris and Elizabeth Pineau in Orleans; Writing by Crispian Balmer. Editing by Mark Potter and Ros Russell)