Corsicans vote on greater self-rule

Corsicans were voting today on a historic referendum to give local officials more say in running the Mediterranean island, an attempt to end years of violent attacks by separatists fighting French rule.

The national government scored a triumph going into the vote when French special police burst into a sheep farm on the island Friday and captured a Corsican separatist who has long topped France’s most-wanted list.

Authorities believe Yvan Colonna was the triggerman in the 1998 murder of the Mediterranean island’s highest French official, Prefect Claude Erignac.

French President Jacques Chirac has urged Corsica’s 190,000 voters to back the referendum and help put an end to separatist violence on the island. In the latest opinion surveys, about 51 to 55% of Corsicans favoured the reform.

The sunny, rocky island has been part of France since 1768. Nationalist groups have sought greater autonomy since the mid-1970s with tactics that often involve overnight bombings or brief kidnappings. Most bombings target empty buildings or cars, and injuries are rare.

The referendum is designed to streamline Corsica’s political institutions and set up a single executive council to run the island’s affairs. The new body would have the power to levy taxes and have greater control over public services currently handled from Paris.

It is a highly symbolic vote for the centralized government of France, where devolving power to the regions has long been a divisive issue.

By noon, nearly a quarter of voters had gone to the polls. Balloting was to end at 6pm. local time (1700 Irish time) in the island’s 510 polls, and initial results were expected later in the evening.