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TAHITI: RIOT POLICE CLASH WITH ANTI NUCLEAR DEMONSTRATORS

(7 Sep 1995) TYPE: English/Nat 03:34 SUGGESTED LEAD IN: French riot police clashed with hundreds of anti-nuclear demonstrators in Tahiti Wednesday. Protesters- furious at France's nuclear test on nearby Mururoa atoll -overran Papeete's main airport runway and tried to board a French plane - police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. The demonstrators - supporters of Polynesia's Independence Party - smashed airport windows and lit fires on the runway to try and bring flights to a halt. The demonstrators dashed over scrub land to reach the main runway of Papeete airport. The protesters -supporters of Polynesia's Independence Party - sat down on the tarmac in an attempt to bring flights to a standstill. They sang songs and held up pro-independence and anti-nuclear signs. A few minutes later, around 200 riot police appeared carrying batons, shields and tear-gas launchers. They marched down the runway, ordering the protesters to disperse. When they refused to move police fired tear gas canisters into the crowds. Things turned ugly when the protesters tried to storm an Air Tahiti plane bound for Los Angeles and Paris. Around 30 demonstrators fought with police at the foot of the aircraft, but were prevented from boarding the plane. The passengers could barely believe their eyes as they climbed the steps to the aircraft. Some of the protesters also smashed airport windows, car windscreens and lit fires on the runway. It's the first violent clash between Tahitians and police since the French carried out the first in a series of nuclear tests beneath Mururoa atoll Tuesday morning. The Tahitians' message to the French was unequivocal "enough is enough". SOUNDBITE: The Polynesian people have been pacifists - and calm - for many years, for 17 years, and we've had enough of it, we can't go on any more. If the other nations can't help us then we're going to have to go out onto the streets with our bare hands and try and do something. SUPER CAPTION:Nelson Ortas - Campaign Director of French Polynesia Independence Party. Earlier in the day truckfuls of riot police cruised through Papeete in a show of force to prevent other outbreaks of unrest. France sparked global outrage by going ahead with Tuesday's nuclear test - opposition has been especially fierce in Tahiti itself. The test, one of up to eight that France says are needed to check its nuclear arsenal, broke a three-year moratorium on atomic testing - and sent tensions soaring in the region. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...