PARIS - A government-appointed mediator called yesterday for the release of the chairman of Credit Foncier de France, held for the fifth day in a siege of the state-owned bank's headquarters by hundreds of staff protesting at a government plan to wind down the ailing bank.
But the mediator, Mr Philippe Rouvillois, said release was not a precondition for the start of any negotiations with staff. The chairman, Mr Jerome Meysonnier, and seven of his colleagues have been held in the bank offices since Friday afternoon.