Festival protest defused

Organisers of the world's biggest film festival reached a last-ditch deal on Tuesday with stagehands and part-time French actors who threatened to sour Cannes' cocktail of sun, stars and celluloid.

On the eve of the festival's opening, officials announced they had given the protesters a platform to voice their grievances over welfare benefit cuts.

The movie showcase had been threatened with chaos by the workers who last summer managed to force the cancellation of several leading French arts festivals.

The 11th hour deal was an enormous relief to Cannes, which over 12 days plays host to such A-list stars as Brad Pitt, Charlize Theron and Cameron Diaz as well as the world's media.

"The representatives of the arts workers reaffirmed their desire to respect the mission of the festival which is to welcome artists from all over the world and
help cinema," the organisers said in a statement.

The workers will be welcomed on Wednesday's opening night gala in the Palais des Festivals. They will be allowed to stage news conferences and talk to actors and directors there.

"I always said this debate should not get in the way of culture and the arts," Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres told reporters in Paris, welcoming the accord.

France, already on heightened security alert after the Madrid train bombs two months ago, has sent in 1,000 police officers to ensure the festival runs smoothly.

Restaurant and bar owners, worried that protesters could torpedo the festival, staged their own demonstration on Tuesday down the Croisette beachwalk running through the town.

"The festival in Cannes is the greatest event in the world," said Cannes deputy mayor David Lisnard with the kind of hype normally employed by Hollywood
publicists. "What we want, above all, is that everything goes smoothly."