PARIS (dpa): French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned Thursday the “thuggish behavior” of hundreds of protesters who booed him during a campaign visit to the city of Bayonne Thursday and barred his path, forcing him to take refuge in a bar. Shouting “Sarkozy, president of the rich” and “Sarkozy, get lost,” the protesters swarmed the president while he was on a walkabout in the narrow streets of the fortified city. Some shouted slogans demanding more autonomy for the Basque region and threw mock ballot papers at him. The president, who is campaigning for re-election in April, was forced to duck into a bar, which some of the protesters proceeded to pelt with eggs. Addressing reporters in the bar, Sarkozy tried to pin blame for the event on his Socialist rival Francois Hollande, accusing “Mr Hollande's Socialist activists” of “associating with independence activists in violent demonstrations to terrorize decent people who only want one thing: to come and meet me and talk to me.” Some activists on the edge of the protest bore placards bearing the features of Hollande. Riot police were deployed to clear protesters from the area. Within an hour Sarkozy was on his way again. There were no reports of injuries. Arriving late in Brussels for an EU leaders summit Sarkozy challenged Hollande, the election front-runner, to condemn what he called the “thuggish behavior”. Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, spokeswoman for Sarkozy's campaign, accused the Socialist Party of organizing “street demonstrations” against the incumbent. “Francois Hollande and all his team condemn all violence”, Hollande's spokesman Manuel Valls replied, while denying any Socialist involvement in the incident. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/cdmu4 Tags: featured, Hollande, Sarkozy attacked Section: Europe, Latest News
