France arrests man, calls in anti-terror police over town hall protest fire

PARIS — French security forces on Tuesday arrested a man believed to be linked to ultra-left movements over the burning down of a historic town hall in central France during rioting at the weekend on the sidelines of nationwide protests. Anti-terror police have been called in to investigate the suspected arson of the town hall in the central city of Limoges, a listed building dating back to 1883 whose roof and belfry collapsed when it was engulfed by fire on Saturday. The destruction of the building has become a symbol of the violent rioting that erupted on the margins of a day of protests Saturday. The demonstrations were called in a show of anger against grievances including the rising cost of living and conditions in schools. The scenes of the burning building collapsing also brought back memories in France of the April 2019 fire that ravaged Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which investigators believe started by accident but horrified the country. The man was arrested by officers from the specialised RAID police unit in the nearby town of Val d'Issoire, the Limoges prosecutor's offic