Times Online November 07, 2005
By Simon Freeman and agencies, and Charles Bremner of The Times in Paris
French police made 395 arrests last night as riots intensified for the 11th consecutive night, with violence and fire engulfing towns from the North to the Mediterranean.
In the impoverished suburbs and satellite towns around Paris, where the unrest began on October 27, churches, schools and warehouses were set alight. At least 1,408 vehicles were destroyed, many more than on previous nights, and the random attacks have spread into the heart of the city.
In Grigny, south of the capital, a gang of around 200 youths are reported to have lured police into a housing estate before opening fire with hunting rifles. At least 30 officers were injured, two seriously with lead pellets in the legs and neck.
Riots broke out in beacons of disaffection across the country from Lille, on the border with Belgium, to Montpellier on the Mediterranean coast. In Toulouse, police used tear gas to disperse a mob. Cars were set alight on the streets of Nantes, Orleans, Rennes and Rouen, and youths in St Etienne forced passengers off a bus before burning it. Churches were set ablaze in northern Lens and southern Sete.
Dominique de Villepin, the Prime Minister, was due to outline a series of restrictive measures in an attempt to restore order later today. The proposals are expected to include fast-track trials and a further hardening of security. There are already 2,300 additional police on patrol and around 1,100 people have been arrested.
M de Villepin has been criticised for his failure to intervene earlier, instead leaving the potentially damaging problem to his rival Nikolas Sarkozy, the interior minister. M Sarkozy inflamed tensions by describing the rioters as "scum".
In Strasbourg, youths stole a car and rammed it into a housing project, setting the vehicle and the building on fire. "We’ll stop when Sarkozy steps down," the defiant 17-year-old driver told an Associated Press reporter.
Police are calling for a night-time curfew in affected areas and some senior officers have demanded that troops are brought on to the streets.
Michel Gaudin, France's most senior police officer, said today: "We are witnessing a sort of shock wave that is spreading across the country."
President Chirac said last night that tackling the trouble was an "absolute priority" and called an emergency meeting of senior Cabinet members responsible for security.
After the meeting with ministers, M Chirac said: "The last word must be with the law." Those sowing "violence or fear" would be "arrested, judged and punished."
The French President's first public announcement since the unrest began was designed to reassure a population that has grown outraged over the rioting by youths, mainly of Arab and African origin, who have set fire to cars, stoned police and firemen and attacked shops, schools and businesses.
The unrest started in the poor Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, after the deaths of two teenagers of Mauritanian and Tunisian origin. The youths were accidentally electrocuted as they hid from police in a power substation. They apparently thought they were being chased.
The subsequent outburst of anger has since fanned out into a nationwide show of disdain for French authority, high unemployment, poor housing and discrimination.
MPs in M Chirac’s Union for a Popular Movement have questioned the President’s delay in speaking. François Hollande, leader of the Socialist Opposition, said that M Chirac’s entire Government was in question. UMP leader.
Australia and Japan today became the latest countries to issue a travel warning, joining Britain, Canada, Russia and
the United States by issuing public advisories that, while not
calling for trips to France to be avoided altogether, recommended
caution.
Although the pronouncements from the Government remain combative rather than conciliatory, M de Villepin is also due to meet education leaders in an attempt to address the underlying causes of the anger.
"These are young people who are generally resigned, they face discrimination everywhere, for housing and work, and their malaise gets expressed in violence," said Ahmed Touabi, the principal of an elementary school in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil.
"They feel Rejected by France, and They want to spit on France."
Source: Times Newspapers Ltd .
By Simon Freeman and agencies, and Charles Bremner of The Times in Paris
French police made 395 arrests last night as riots intensified for the 11th consecutive night, with violence and fire engulfing towns from the North to the Mediterranean.
In the impoverished suburbs and satellite towns around Paris, where the unrest began on October 27, churches, schools and warehouses were set alight. At least 1,408 vehicles were destroyed, many more than on previous nights, and the random attacks have spread into the heart of the city.
In Grigny, south of the capital, a gang of around 200 youths are reported to have lured police into a housing estate before opening fire with hunting rifles. At least 30 officers were injured, two seriously with lead pellets in the legs and neck.
Riots broke out in beacons of disaffection across the country from Lille, on the border with Belgium, to Montpellier on the Mediterranean coast. In Toulouse, police used tear gas to disperse a mob. Cars were set alight on the streets of Nantes, Orleans, Rennes and Rouen, and youths in St Etienne forced passengers off a bus before burning it. Churches were set ablaze in northern Lens and southern Sete.
Dominique de Villepin, the Prime Minister, was due to outline a series of restrictive measures in an attempt to restore order later today. The proposals are expected to include fast-track trials and a further hardening of security. There are already 2,300 additional police on patrol and around 1,100 people have been arrested.
M de Villepin has been criticised for his failure to intervene earlier, instead leaving the potentially damaging problem to his rival Nikolas Sarkozy, the interior minister. M Sarkozy inflamed tensions by describing the rioters as "scum".
In Strasbourg, youths stole a car and rammed it into a housing project, setting the vehicle and the building on fire. "We’ll stop when Sarkozy steps down," the defiant 17-year-old driver told an Associated Press reporter.
Police are calling for a night-time curfew in affected areas and some senior officers have demanded that troops are brought on to the streets.
Michel Gaudin, France's most senior police officer, said today: "We are witnessing a sort of shock wave that is spreading across the country."
President Chirac said last night that tackling the trouble was an "absolute priority" and called an emergency meeting of senior Cabinet members responsible for security.
After the meeting with ministers, M Chirac said: "The last word must be with the law." Those sowing "violence or fear" would be "arrested, judged and punished."
The French President's first public announcement since the unrest began was designed to reassure a population that has grown outraged over the rioting by youths, mainly of Arab and African origin, who have set fire to cars, stoned police and firemen and attacked shops, schools and businesses.
The unrest started in the poor Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, after the deaths of two teenagers of Mauritanian and Tunisian origin. The youths were accidentally electrocuted as they hid from police in a power substation. They apparently thought they were being chased.
The subsequent outburst of anger has since fanned out into a nationwide show of disdain for French authority, high unemployment, poor housing and discrimination.
MPs in M Chirac’s Union for a Popular Movement have questioned the President’s delay in speaking. François Hollande, leader of the Socialist Opposition, said that M Chirac’s entire Government was in question. UMP leader.
Australia and Japan today became the latest countries to issue a travel warning, joining Britain, Canada, Russia and
the United States by issuing public advisories that, while not
calling for trips to France to be avoided altogether, recommended
caution.
Although the pronouncements from the Government remain combative rather than conciliatory, M de Villepin is also due to meet education leaders in an attempt to address the underlying causes of the anger.
"These are young people who are generally resigned, they face discrimination everywhere, for housing and work, and their malaise gets expressed in violence," said Ahmed Touabi, the principal of an elementary school in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil.
"They feel Rejected by France, and They want to spit on France."
Source: Times Newspapers Ltd .
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