A French parliamentarian on a five-week hunger strike to prevent the closure of a local factory called off his campaign Friday after the government won a pledge from the plant's Japanese owners to protect jobs.
Jean Lassalle, 50, a centre-right deputy of the UDF party and former shepherd from the Pyrenees mountains in south-west France, had taken nothing but water, salt and vitamins since he began his strike on March 7.
The deputy's high-profile campaign aimed to block alleged plans by the Tokyo-based Toyo Aluminium company to close a factory employing 150 people in his constituency - plans repeatedly denied by the company.
For 39 days, he camped in the national assembly building, shuttling between his office and a red-velvet bench outside the debating chamber, clutching a book by India's freedom hero Mahatma Gandhi to his side.
Dangerously weakened, having lost 21 kilos (46 pounds), the father of four was rushed from the building in an ambulance on Friday morning after a doctor ordered his emergency hospitalisation.
Lassalle called off his strike later Friday after President Jacques Chirac stepped in to untangle the case.
"I have just signed the agreement, so I have decided to end my hunger strike. I'm very happy," he told AFP from his hospital bed, The deputy had vowed early Friday to continue his fast, saying: "I cannot, after almost 40 days of fast, stop like a sad clown".
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy announced the accord following talks Friday morning with senior executives of the Toyo subsidiary Toyal and the Japanese ambassador to Paris.
Toyal pledged that its car-paint factory in the village of Accous would remain open - and pledged to develop its activities in the village before investing in any other French sites.
The company had planned to open a new factory in the town of Lacq, 65 kilometres (40 miles) away, which Lassalle argued would inevitably lead to the closure of the older plant.
Toyal is the main employer in Accous, a hamlet of 2,800 inhabitants, nestled between the snowy peaks of the picturesque Asp Valley, and a local official recently warned the area "would not survive" the plant disappearing.
Executives at the firm, which had consistently denied any closure plans, voiced relief that the weeks-long "misunderstanding" had been resolved.
"We have been able to find a solution and we are grateful," said Toyal number two Masahiro Aoki, adding that he had exchanged words of thanks with the French president after reaching the accord.
"Toyo Aluminium, as well as Toyal, have the greatest wish to contribute further to the French economy, and that will also include providing job security," Aoki said.
Though criticised by some as a media stunt, Lassalle's determination - he appeared ready to risk his life - set off a chain reaction at the highest levels of the French government.
Chirac had telephoned Lassalle Thursday to assure him the government was working towards a solution, while Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin visited him personally to assess the situation.
Both the president and Sarkozy voiced relief that a solution had been found, while Francois Bayrou, the leader of Lassalle's UDF party, hailed it as a "magnificent victory", in which "everybody was a winner".
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