Railway officials say French authorities have blocked a train from Italy because activists and illegal Tunisian migrants are aboard.
A spokesman for the Italian rail company, Maurizio Furia, told The Associated Press in Rome that the train wasn't being allowed to pass into Menton, France, from the Italian border station of Ventimiglia Sunday.
Italy recently started giving out temporary residence permits to some of the thousands of Tunisians escaping unrest in northern Africa in recent weeks. The Italians say the permits should allow the Tunisians to go to France under an accord allowing visa-free travel among many European countries.
French authorities say they will allow in only Tunisians with the financial resources to live in France independently. - Sapa-AP