More violence forces Caribbean shops to close

Shops opened for the first time today in a month on the protest-hit Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, then closed almost immediately amid fears of more violence.

Thousands of chanting protesters marched through a main street in Pointe-a-Pitre on their way to the building where pay negotiations with the French government are taking place.

One shop owner said: "We are afraid for ourselves, we are afraid for our businesses and we are afraid for our customers."

The strike by workers demanding higher wages and lower prices in Guadeloupe began on January 20. It has been fuelled by resentment of descendants of slave holders who control the French-owned island's economy.

The protesters chanted: "Guadeloupe is ours, Guadeloupe is not theirs."