French riot police used tear gas to break up a three-day sit-in at Paris's Sorbonne university today, stirring up memories of May 1968, as angry students warned of a mounting challenge to government labour reforms.
Students had occupied the prestigious faculty, the centre of France's 1968 student riots, since Wednesday to protest against the youth jobs plan, which has sent conservative Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's popularity tumbling.
Police stormed the Sorbonne just before 3 a.m. , forcing out around 200 students staging the protest and arresting 11 people, a police spokesman said.
Two people were being treated for minor injuries including a photographer who was struck as demonstrators threw bottles, chairs and fire extinguishers at the police.
Police moved into the university building after students had also blocked off the square outside the Sorbonne as well as the Boulevard St Michel in the heart of the Latin Quarter.
Thousands of people have protested this week at Mr Villepin's plan to introduce a flexible First Employment Contract (CPE), which critics say will allow employers to hire and fire young workers more easily, with students demonstrating across France.
Mr Villepin has seen his once-solid popularity hit by opposition to the new employment plan.
An opinion poll published this week showed a seven-point fall in his approval rating in the past month to its lowest level since he was named prime minister in May 2005.
Mr Villepin, widely believed to be considering a presidential bid in 2007 elections, has made reducing jobless queues his top priority since becoming prime minister nine months ago
Mr Villepin says the CPE will encourage firms to hire young people. Critics say it will make it easier for companies to fire young workers, increasing the feeling of insecurity that was seen as one of the root causes of the suburban riots last year.