First death in Guadeloupe unrest

Anger at the financial crisis has turned fatal in France’s Caribbean island, Guadeloupe.

Weeks of increasingly violent protests culminated in the death of a union leader trapped by youths at a roadblock. Three policemen were shot as they tried to help him.

Guadeloupe is best-known as a tropical paradise, but tourists have been leaving in panic as the protests have paralysed the holiday island.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has not specifically addressed Guadeloupe’s problems, preferring to concentrate on defusing protests at home. But Paris is sending specialist riot police in an attempt to calm things down.

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tags: Caribbean, France, Guadeloupe