France fears more riots; Museums, Eiffel Tower to close

PARIS » Authorities across France braced Thursday for the possibility of more riots and violence at antigovernment protests this weekend, holding emergency meetings and deploying tens of thousands of police and security forces. Museums, theaters and shops in Paris announced they would close Saturday as a precaution — including the city’s famed Eiffel Tower.

Police unions and city authorities met to strategize on how to handle the protests on Saturday, which are being held even though French President Emmanuel Macron surrendered Wednesday night and cancelled a fuel tax hike that had unleashed weeks of unrest.

On the other side of France’s volatile social debate, disparate groups of protesters did the same thing, sharing their weekend plans on social networks and chat groups.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told senators Thursday that the government will deploy “exceptional” security measures for the protests in Paris and elsewhere, with additional new forces on top of

Speaking on TF1 television, Philippe said 89,000 police officers will be deployed on Saturday across France — up from 65,000 last weekend.

In Paris alone, 8,000 police officers will be mobilized. They will be equipped with a dozen armored vehicles —a first in a French urban area since 2005.

Some “yellow vest” protesters, French union officials and prominent politicians across the political spectrum called for calm Thursday after the worst rioting in Paris in decades last weekend.

Macron agreed to abandon the fuel tax hike, part of his plans to combat global warming, but protesters’ demands have now expanded to other issues hurting French workers, retirees and students. And in a move questioned by both critics and supporters, the president himself has disappeared from public view.

The prime minister reiterated the government’s plan to scrap a fuel tax rise planned by the previous government because of the “extreme tensions” France is facing.

“No tax deserves to put civil peace in danger,” Philippe said.

The rioting in Paris has worried tourists, prompted the cancellation of four French league soccer matches this weekend around the country and damaged the local economy at the height of the holiday shopping season. Rampaging groups last weekend threw cobblestones through Paris storefronts and looted valuables in some of the city’s richest neighborhoods.

The Eiffel Tower, along with more than a dozen museums, two theaters and other cultural sites in Paris, will be closed Saturday for security reasons. The Paris Opera has cancelled planned performances Saturday on its two Parisian sites.

Two music festivals in Paris have been postponed and the Arc de Triomphe remains closed since it was damaged in last weekend’s protest, which left over 130 people injured.

Paris police have also urged shops in the city’s high- end Champs-Elysees area to close Saturday as a precaution.