Paris suburb bus drivers strike over arson attack

PARIS, Nov 7 (Reuters) Hundreds of bus drivers went on strike last night, refusing to drive through Paris suburbs after an attack on one of their company's buses near the French capital, a trade union source said.

Three vandals tried to set fire to one of the firm's buses on Sunday in the Paris suburb of Tremblay-en-France. Suburban buses have been targeted in a wave of arson attacks in the past fortnight roughly a year after suburban riots rocked France.

Drivers of the Courriers d'Ile-de-France (CIF) company in three departments bordering Paris walked off the job for 24 hours, saying their working conditions were unsafe and demanding that police or security guards accompany them on their rounds.

The drivers were blocking 117 lines and had gathered in a bus depot in Tremblay-en-France, the union source said.

One attack on a bus in the southern city of Marseille over a week ago left one woman badly burned.

Reuters DH VP0432