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Angry French Beef Farmers Pelt Prime Minister With Eggs
Angry about the government's handling of the mad cow crisis, French beef farmers booed and pelted eggs at Prime Minister Lionel Jospin on Thursday when he visited the annual Agriculture Show.
A small group of farmers shouted "Resign!" as body guards and police encircled the prime minister, who was not hit by the eggs.
After mad cow fears peaked this fall, plummeting beef sales have dealt a blow to the nation's cattle farmers, who say the government hasn't done enough to ease the crisis or their financial plight. Last week, protesting farmers burned tires and hurled manure at police during demonstrations for more aid.
President Jacques Chirac visited the Agriculture Show this weekend and lashed out at France's food safety agency for casting suspicion on the safety of certain sheep and goat products amid fears over mad cow disease. Chirac accused the agency of "inciting panic" among consumers.
On Thursday, Jospin defended the food safety agency, known by its French initials AFSSA, though he dodged a debate about his differences with Chirac.
The prime minister told scientists at the AFSSA booth that their role was "indispensable" in maintaining consumer confidence in French food products.
"We need independent scientific bodies to guide the decisions of those who have political responsibility," he said.
The brain-wasting mad cow disease Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy linked to the fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which as killed some 80 Europeans since the mid-1990s, mostly in Britain.
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