French forces deployed to secure New Caledonia

NOUMEA — Hundreds of military and armed police reinforcements had arrived in New Caledonia as part of a massive operation to regain control of the capital Noumea, the top French official in the Pacific Island territory said on Friday.

Extra forces began landing on Thursday at the French army-controlled La Tontouta International Airport and could be seen moving through Noumea in red berets toting rifles, gas masks and riot shields.

The number of police and gendarmes on the island governed by France will rise to 2,700 from 1,700 by Friday evening.

Anger over France's plan to impose new voting rules spiraled into the deadliest violence in four decades in the archipelago of 270,000 people, which lies between Australia and Fiji — 17,000 kilometers from Paris.

After rioting that began on Monday resulting in five deaths and hundreds of arrests, Thursday night was relatively calm, France's High Commissioner Louis Le Franc told reporters in a televised news conference.

The violence is the worst seen in New Caledonia since violence involving independence radicals rocked the French overseas territory in the 1980s.

On Friday morning, journalists saw flames and smoke pouring from a shopping center, smoldering buildings, dozens of burned-out cars and residents dragging the remnants of vehicles off the roads.

The New Caledonia government said in a statement on Friday the island has food stocks for two months, but the problem is distribution.

The rioting erupted over a new bill, adopted by lawmakers in Paris on Tuesday, that will let French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years vote in provincial elections. Some local leaders fear the move will dilute the indigenous Kanak vote.

The Pacific Conference of Churches on Friday joined regional intergovernmental groups in calling for France to withdraw the constitutional bill, and said the United Nations should lead a dialogue mission to New Caledonia.

In a statement, the churches said there had been a breakdown in dialogue between the French government and Kanak people.

Agencies Via Xinhua