Chirac Warns Of Firm Response To (Muslim) Rioting

PARIS (AP) - French President Jacques Chirac, intervening after six nights of rioting in suburban Paris, called Wednesday for calm and said authorities will use a firm hand to curtail what may become a ``dangerous situation.''

The violence, sparked initially by the deaths of two teenagers, has exposed the despair, anger and deep-rooted criminality in the poor suburbs, where police hesitate to venture and which have proved fertile terrain for Islamic extremists.

``The law must be applied firmly and in a spirit of dialogue and respect,'' Chirac said at a Cabinet meeting. ``The absence of dialogue and an escalation of a lack of respect will lead to a dangerous situation.''

Chirac's remarks were passed on to reporters by government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope.

The rioting, which spread Tuesday night to at least nine Paris-region towns, has exposed rifts in Chirac's government, with Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy - a potential 2007 presidential candidate - being criticized for his tough talk and police tactics.

It also has renewed debate about France's failure to fully integrate its millions of immigrants, many of whom are trapped in poverty and grinding unemployment, living in low-cost, sometimes decrepit, suburban housing estates where gangs dealing drugs and stolen goods sometimes are in control.

That Chirac intervened personally was a measure of the crisis. He acknowledged the ``profound frustrations'' of troubled neighborhoods but said violence was not the answer and that efforts must be stepped up to combat it.

In Tuesday night's clashes, riot police fired rubber bullets at advancing gangs of youths in Aulnay-sous-Bois, where 15 cars were burned, officials said. Youths lobbed Molotov cocktails at an annex to the town hall and threw stones at the firehouse. It was not immediately clear whether there were any injuries.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told Europe-1 radio that police detained 34 people overnight.

Sarkozy - blamed by many for fanning the violence with his ``zero-tolerance'' approach to suburban crime - defended his approach and vowed to restore calm. He recently called rioters ``scum'' and vowed to ``clean out'' troubled suburbs.

Housing projects to the north and northeast of Paris are heavily populated by North African Muslim immigrants.

Because of the unrest, Sarkozy canceled a visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan planned to begin Sunday, his office announced Wednesday.

The rioting began Thursday in the northeastern suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois after the electrocutions of two teenagers hiding in a power substation because they believed police were chasing them.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin met Tuesday evening with the parents of the three families, promising a full investigation of the deaths and insisting on ``the need to restore calm.''

In the northeastern suburb of Bondy, 14 cars were burned and four people arrested for throwing stones at police, authorities said.

Riots continue in Paris suburbs

Staff and agencies
Wednesday November 2, 2005
The Guardian (UK)

Violent clashes between police and immigrant groups in the suburbs around Paris have continued for the sixth consecutive night with scores of cars set alight and nearly three dozen people arrested overnight, officials said today.

Police in riot gear fired rubber bullets at advancing gangs of youths in Aulnay-sous-Bois - one of the worst-hit suburbs - where 15 cars were burned. Youths lobbed molotov cocktails at an annex to the town hall and threw stones at the fire station, despite appeals for calm yesterday from the French prime minister, Dominique de Villlepin.

Four people were arrested for throwing stones at police in nearby Bondy where 14 cars were burned, the prefecture said. A fire engulfed a carpet store, but it was not immediately clear whether the blaze was linked to the suburban unrest.

Officials gave an initial count of 69 vehicles destroyed in nine suburbs across the Seine-Saint-Denis region to the north and north-east of Paris. The area, which is home mainly to families of immigrant origin, most from Muslim north Africa, is marked by soaring unemployment and social unrest.

The interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, told Europe-1 radio that police detained 34 people overnight. Mr Sarkozy - blamed by many for fanning the violence with uncompromising language and harsh tactics - defended his approach and vowed to restore peace.

The rioting began on Thursday after two teenagers, aged 15 and 17, were fatally electrocuted and a third injured in a power substation. There have been claims, denied by officials, that they where were hiding to escape from police.

Mr Sarkozy caused uproar by calling the rioters "scum" and continued to defend his stance in an interview in today's Le Parisien newspaper in which he said the current policy dealing with poor immigrant communities had failed.

"The reigning order is too often the order of gangs, drugs, traffickers. The neighbourhoods are waiting for firmness but also justice.... and jobs," he told the paper.

An Associated Press news team witnessed confrontations between about 20 police and 40 youths in Aulnay-sous-Bois with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets. Officials said that "small, very mobile gangs" were harassing police as well as setting fire to rubbish bins and vehicles throughout the region.

France-Info radio said some 150 fires were reported in rubbish containers, cars and buildings across Seine-Saint-Denis.

Yesterday, Mr de Villepin met the parents of the three teenagers, promising a full investigation of the deaths and insisting on "the need to restore calm", the prime minister's office said.

Despite that, tension continued to mount after young men torched cars, garbage bins and even a primary school the night before. Scores of cars were reported burned on Monday night in Clichy-sous-Bois, and 13 people were detained.

Youths set two rooms of a primary school in Sevran on fire on Monday along with several cars, the mayor, Stephane Gatignon, said in a statement.

Mr Sarkozy's handling of the situation has been criticised within the conservative government. The equal opportunities minister, Azouz Begag, said he "contests this method of becoming submerged by imprecise, warlike semantics".

For three decades, successive governments have injected funds and launched projects but failed to improve the lives of many marginalised communities in suburban areas.

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