Ousted leader barricades herself in office

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The ousted head of a French hoteliers' union has barricaded herself into her Paris office to protest against her dismissal.

A source at the UMIH union said on Monday that Christine Pujol had not left her office in UMIH headquarters in elegant western Paris for five days.

She was sleeping on the carpet and surviving on food brought by her supporters that she pulled up from the street outside to the third floor on a rope.

UMIH, which describes itself as France's main hotel and restaurant union, elected a new president on Monday to replace Pujol, who was voted out last November in an internal power struggle.

"This is a comical and unreasonable situation, and I hope we can sort this out amicably," Roland Heguy, the new president, told French radio. "I hope someone told her about the result of the vote."

- AP