Thousands of French business owners protest taxes, red tape

PARIS, Dec 01 (AFP): Thousands of business owners took to the streets in French cities Monday in a rare protest against hefty taxes, charges and stifling regulations they say are driving their firms into the ground.

France is no stranger to disgruntled workers rising up in anger but employers' protests are unusual, and Monday's demonstrations underlined a general sense of stagnation or decline in Europe's second-biggest economy.

According to organisers, 6,000 protested in the French capital, 2,000 in the southwestern city of Toulouse and several hundred in Marseille in the south.

Police however put the number at 2,200 in Paris, where protesters headed to the finance ministry, a huge, imposing building barricaded behind several rows of riot police, shouting "Free our businesses" and other slogans.