Man climbs on roof of US embassy in Paris
A self-styled poet climber managed to sidestep security and climbed on the embassy building.
PARIS (AFP) - A self-styled "poet climber" on Thursday managed to sidestep security, climb on to the roof of the US Embassy building in Paris and spend two hours there before being helped down by fire fighters.
Herve Couasnon, whose previous stunts have included sneaking into France s National Assembly and a nuclear power station, told AFP by phone from the roof that he wanted to meet Barack Obama, give the president his CV and talk peace -- a reference to Obama s ongoing Middle East trip.
Emergency services established a security cordon around the embassy and readied a safety net for fear the eccentric bus driver might slip and fall from his position, straddled over metal railings on the edge of the roof.
Fire fighters used a ladder to reach him in his precarious position and he came down without resistance.
In 2002, Couasnon made headlines after making his way into the National Assembly as then Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin was speaking. He was able to present the premier with a sports trophy before stewards ushered him out.
The 54-year-old, from Perigueux in southwestern France, claims to have scaled the US embassy once before, in 1991 during the first Gulf war.