Star Metro - French protests kick off amid heavy security blanket

Authorities deployed 70,000 security forces across the country as nationwide marches were held against the cost of living.

"There has been no major incident" as of midday (1000 GMT), Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said, adding: "We will not tolerate any violence or any disturbance of public order."

Protesters' anger has been stirred further by President Emmanuel Macron's government banning non-union-led demonstrations. Several groups slammed what they called an attack on the right to protest.

Macron has blamed "ultra-left" groups wanting to "bring down the republic" for the worst of last weekend's violence, when public buildings were vandalised and hundreds of shops looted.

- Police quick to react -

After being caught flatfooted by that unrest, police this time had armoured vehicles, helicopters and water cannon ready to respond to the slightest provocation.

"The police are really mobile... They come and disperse marches before they even form," said a 21-year-old student in Lyon, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Police in Lyon fired tear gas to disperse about 150 protesters near the city center who had tried to block a road, an AFP journalist saw.

Nunez said 135 people had been arrested as of midday Saturday.

He added that weapons including metal balls, lead pellets, fireworks, slingshots, steel balls, improvised weapons, a katana sword and airsoft weapons had been confiscated.

"These seizures clearly demonstrate the determination of certain far-left and radical left-wing groups to turn a number of demonstrations violent," he said.

The minister spoke as the main march in Paris started. Police at the last minute changed the route from central Paris to the southern rim of the capital.

Murielle Guilbert of the Syndicale Solidaires union said it had been "outrageous" to ban non-union protests.

"We're here because there is obvious public anger" over low salaries, she said.

The march started in a calm and festive atmosphere.

Claire, a 26-year-old nurse who did not want to give a last name, said: "Not everyone is out to smash things up. Some of us are simply here to say we disagree and that we just want a better future."

- Boarded-up shops -

Another protester, Aurore, 35, said that "people need to understand that the anger is real. We’ve been walked all over for 10 years."

Ynyane, a 19-year-old wearing a Dragonball Z costume, added: "Taxes are a bit too high, and I have to support people who are struggling."

Many retailers in Paris boarded up their windows or closed, fearing a return of looters on the margins of demonstrations who stripped stores last weekend.

Some 2,700 people were arrested after last weekend's violence, and the retail sector said shopowners were left with damage and losses totalling hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay museums were closed on Saturday for the new demonstrations.

- Protest against Le Pen's party -

Adding to tensions, Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party held a congress in Orleans to launch her campaign for a presidential election in six months.

Thousands of people yelling anti-fascist slogans marched against Le Pen, and President Emmanuel Macron, a pro-business centrist who cannot stand again. "Macron resign. Le Pen in prison," the crowd yelled. Police put their numbers at 11,000 while organisers said 26,000 took part.

The unrest highlighted tensions in France ahead of the vote, in which Le Pen leads in surveys.

Inflation in France, particularly for fuel, has surged since the start of the Middle East war in February.

Protests have also been taking place in Italy, Belgium, Spain and Portugal over different issues, yet with some overlap on inflation and education problems. Italy has mobilised 500 troops to Milan after street violence there.

While French unions reluctantly complied with orders banning marches from central Paris, Marseille and other cities, they and other groups decried a perceived "authoritarian drift" by the government.

The Yellow Vests, who staged disruptive protests against Macron eight years ago, called for more demonstrations on October 31 for "the freedom to protest".

A shopworker in the city of Rennes told AFP: "Bans are sometimes worse. Protesting is a right, and when you ban it you make it even more tempting."

Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who marched in the Paris rally, said Macron "is going to understand that this is going to repeat itself every week".

O.Poirier--SMC