French refuse entry to immigrants from Italy

A train carrying Tunisian immigrants from Italy was halted at the French border yesterday in an escalation of an international dispute over the fate of North African migrants fleeing political unrest for refuge in Europe.

A spokesman for the Italian rail company, Maurizio Furia, said that the train was not being allowed to pass into Menton, France, from the Italian border station of Ventimiglia.

Italy has been giving temporary residence permits to many of the 26,000 Tunisians who have landed in Italy.