Sarkozy sends in riot police to reopen fuel depots

PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy dispatched riot police yesterday to reopen fuel depots blocked by strikes against pension reform, as the pipeline to Paris airports was cut and all of France’s oil refineries shut down.

But even as officers forced open the barricades at some depots, strikers threw up new pickets at other fuel distribution centres across the country to fight against moves to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.

Students protested outside the prime minister’s offices and took to the streets in demonstrations across France, where more than 300 schools were hit by a fourth consecutive day of blockades or other actions, officials said.