Posted on 11/09/2005 3:06:03 PM PST by mdittmar
* Set fire to newspaper office, burn two superstores
* 617 more vehicles burnt
* Lyon’s subway system paralysed
PARIS: Rioters defied emergency laws that took effect on Wednesday, as they looted and burned two superstores, set fire to a newspaper office and paralysed France’s second-largest city’s subway system with a firebomb.
However, the number of car burnings – a barometer for the unrest – dropped sharply, suggesting the movement lost steam overnight. From Tuesday to Wednesday, youths torched 617 vehicles, down from 1,173 the previous night, national police spokesman Patrick Hamon said. Incidents were reported in 116 towns, compared to 226 the night before.
President Jacques Chirac announced extraordinary security measures, which began on Wednesday and are valid for a 12-day state of emergency, clearing the way for curfews after nearly two weeks of rioting in neglected and impoverished neighbourhoods with largely Muslim communities.
Officials were forced to shut down the southern city of Lyon’s subway system after a firebomb exploded in a station late on Tuesday, a regional government spokesman said, adding no one was hurt. Transport officials were to decide on Wednesday morning when service could resume, the spokesman said.
Arsonists also set fire to the Nice-Matin newspaper’s office in Grasse in the southeast Alpes-Maritimes region, he said.
Nine buses were set ablaze at a bus depot in Dole, in the eastern Jura region, Reydy said. A bus exploded in Bassens, near the southwest city of Bordeaux after a firebomb was thrown into it, he said, adding that the driver escaped.
In Nice, a man was in serious condition after being hit by a barbell that fell from a high-rise building in a neighbourhood where there had been recent riots, a local official said. Authorities were investigating whether it was an accident or an attack.
Youths threw gasoline bombs at police who retaliated with tear gas in the southern city of Toulouse, where Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy was visiting, LCI television said.
“None of us have a choice,” Sarkozy told police and fire department representatives in Toulouse. “We have to succeed. We will not budge a centimetre.”
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said riot police faced “determined individuals, structured gangs, organised criminality”. Police say rioters have been using mobile phone text messages and the Internet to organise arson attacks.
Villepin, tacitly acknowledging that France has failed to live up to its egalitarian ideals, said discrimination was a “daily and repeated” reality.
“We must be lucid: the republic is at a moment of truth,” Villepin told parliament on Tuesday in a debate where lawmakers spoke frankly about France’s failings.
A poll published on Wednesday by the daily Le Parisien showed 73 percent of people in France favoured allowing authorities to impose curfews. The poll was based on telephone interviews conducted on Tuesday with a random sample of 805 people across the country. No margin of error was provided.
French regional officials were preparing to use the state of emergency powers to impose curfews. The Interior Ministry said there was no centralised list of towns and cities that would be affected, because curfew measures were being drawn up locally.
The northern French city of Amiens, the central city of Orleans and Savigny-sur-Orge, and the Essonne region south of Paris said they planned curfews for minors, who must be accompanied by adults at night. Amiens also planned to forbid the sale of gasoline in cans to minors.
Curfew violators face up to two months in jail and a $4,400 fine, the Justice Ministry said. Minors face one month in jail. ap
There are only so many cars you can burn before people start moving them to less convenient places.
"In Nice, a man was in serious condition after being hit by a barbell that fell from a high-rise building in a neighbourhood where there had been recent riots"
I hate it when that happens.
And if the terrorists refuse? The French police will throw marshmellows at the thugs.
"In Nice, a man was in serious condition after being hit by a barbell that fell from a high-rise building in a neighbourhood where there had been recent riots"
I got hit with a heavy bar bill once, knocked me to the
floor too.
Really? Could it be that they are running our of cars to burn? Also, that car owners undoubtedly are starting to hide them.
hahahahahaha!
Or using mass transportation? SHhhhh... I may be giving the Green Nuts Anarchists ideas...
Yes, the French marines are reserved solely for use against the Fuzzie Wuzzies.
LOL
whew. problem solved. i'm glad france was able to end the conflict so soon.
/sarcasm
You can only burn so many cars. People start hiding them after a so many are torched. The fact of the matter is that 617 cars were burned along with a number of buildings etc. Can any country say things are ok when 617 cars are burned? This is an improvement?
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