French soldiers will be deployed Saturday to help guard public buildings, allowing police to focus on dealing with "yellow vest" demonstrators in case of renewed violence in Paris and other cities, the government said.
It was announced separately that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe had decided to put off a planned overseas trip to French Guiana at the weekend to be on hand at home. "Given the special situation concerning public order, the premier decided to postpone his visit," his office said.
Last Saturday, more than 5,000 police officers failed to stop hundreds of violent protesters from rampaging along the Champs-Elysees, burning and looting over 100 businesses in disturbances that lasted more than seven hours.
Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said earlier that the troops will be redeployed from the "Sentinelle" anti-terror operation, which patrols streets and protects airports, train stations, places of worship and other sites. This will allow police forces to "concentrate on crowd control, along with maintaining law and order," he said.
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