"Spiderman" tops skyscraper in war protest

Paris - A self-styled Spiderman has defied strong winds to scale a 47-storey Paris skyscraper without safety equipment to protest against the war in Iraq.

Frenchman Alain Robert had onlooking office workers and police on tenterhooks as he slowly worked his way up the 180 metre-high TotalFinaElf skyscraper in the La Defense business centre in the west of the city on Monday.

"It's as mad as the war itself," said Fatisha Amraoui, nervously puffing on a cigarette as she watched Robert climb. "I think it'll take more than this to make an impression on Bush and Blair, but it's good all the same. It makes you think."

Robert reached the top in about 45 minutes, winning cheers and applause from a small crowd gathered below.

"The war that the Americans and the British are waging is illegal," Robert, holding up a "No War" banner, told reporters after being escorted by police back down the building -- using a lift.

Polls show the French overwhelmingly oppose the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Robert has several arrests and minor charges to his name for climbing skyscrapers and other landmarks. His tally includes the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Empire State Building in New York, the 54-floor Shinjuku Tower in Tokyo and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. -- Reuters

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