Palestinians confront French minister

Gaza: Dozens of furious Palestinians protested against the French foreign minister on a visit to the Gaza Strip yesterday, pelting her motorcade with eggs and narrowly missing her with a lobbed shoe.

The protesters, relatives of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons, were angry about comments Michele Alliot-Marie reportedly made the day before in support of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas and held in Gaza since 2006.

Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his nation remains undaunted in its role to help stabilise Afghanistan after Osama Bin Laden demanded France withdraw its troops in exchange for the release of French hostages.