VIDEO: Sarkozy To Visit Crisis-Hit Guadeloupe

One man has been killed as protesters have torched shops and cars and fired on police.

The French government will make a new wage offer to unions on Guadeloupe to defuse an economic crisis on the Caribbean island that has led to violent protests.

"Mediators have come up with a proposal which I am going to approve and which will be submitted to employers and the unions," Prime Minister Francois Fillon told RTL radio on Thursday. "This allows us to get very close to the financial goals of the workers."

Protesters are demanding a 200 euro ($250) monthly pay rise for low income workers on Guadeloupe, which is a full part of France.

Overnight on the island, protesters fired at security forces with hunting rifles and police arrested about 30 people. No one was hurt although a union official was shot dead on Wednesday.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, who met deputies from Guadeloupe on Thursday, deplored the violence in which youths have ransacked shops and burned cars.

"There can be no question, in a state based on the rule of law like France, that the lives of our fellow-countrymen can be allowed to be placed in danger," he said in a speech to deputies.

Sarkozy said he would visit the island when the situation had calmed down to begin consultations on the "economic autonomy" of France's overseas territories and he announced a package of measures worth 580 million euros.

FRUSTRATION

The strike on Guadeloupe had been peaceful but the situation degenerated this week into clashes between groups of young protestors and riot police.

The alliance behind the protest movement, LKP, blames the government for letting the dispute drag on until frustrated young people beyond the control of LKP turned to violence.

They have blocked roads, torched businesses and cars, and looted shops this week.

While the government had offered concessions to the protesters it had until Thursday rejected their main demand -- that it lower business taxes to give companies some room to increase workers' pay by the desired 200 euros.

Prices on Guadeloupe are much higher than in mainland France and unemployment runs at more than 20 percent.

With discontent simmering on the mainland too, Paris is wary of creating a precedent in Guadeloupe.

The proposed settlement would not involve cutting business taxes but would bring forward the implementation of a new benefit for low wage workers and unemployed people, according to Yves Jego, the minister in charge of overseas territories.

Sarkozy, who caused anger in Guadeloupe last week when he failed to mention the general strike during a 90-minute television interview, is due to address the people of Guadeloupe by radio later on Thursday.

Take a look at the VIDEO: Man shot dead in Caribbean clashes