Posted on 11/06/2005 5:07:47 AM PST by Dane
Thousand cars torched in latest French riots Sun Nov 6, 2005 12:17 PM GMT
By Elisabeth Pineau
PARIS (Reuters) - Gangs of youths torched 1,300 vehicles overnight in the 10th consecutive night of violence in Paris's poor suburbs and major French towns, despite the deployment of thousands of extra police.
Cars were burnt out in the historic centre of Paris for the first time on Saturday night. In the normally quiet Normandy town of Evreux, a shopping mall, 50 vehicles, a post office and two schools went up in flames.
Authorities have so far found no way beyond appeals and more police to address a problem with complex social, economic and racial causes.
Evreux mayor Jean-Louis Debre, a confidant of President Jacques Chirac and speaker of the lower house of parliament, told France Info radio:
"To those responsible for the violence, I want to say: Be serious ... If you want to live in a fairer, more fraternal society, this is not how to go about it."
The deaths 10 days ago of two youths apparently fleeing police ignited pent up frustrations among young men, many of them Muslims of North and black African origin, at racism, unemployment, their marginal place in French society and their treatment by the police.
"Many youths have never seen their parents work and couldn't hold down a job if they got one," said Claude Chevallier, manager of a burned-out carpet depot in the rundown Paris suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois.
But authorities now say the rolling nightly riots are being organised via the Internet and mobile phones, and have pointed the finger at drug traffickers and Islamist militants.
Overnight, 1,295 vehicles were torched across France, the highest total so far, police said. An extra 2,300 officers have been drafted in.
Seven police helicopters buzzed over the Paris region through the night, filming disturbances and directing mobile squads to incidents. Overnight, police made 349 arrests.
The number of incidents in the Paris region was similar to the night before, but in the provinces it was up sharply.
TARNISHED IMAGE
The violence has tarnished France's image abroad, forcing Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to cancel a trip to Canada, while Russia and the United States have warned their citizens to avoid Paris's troubled suburbs.
Villepin has combined a call for an end to the riots with dialogue with community leaders, youngsters and local officials, and has promised an action plan for 750 tough neighbourhoods.
"I'll make proposals as early as this week," the weekly Journal du Dimanche quoted him as saying.
But it remained unclear what could stop the violence, though some opposition parties have suggested a symbolic measure -- the resignation of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
Accused of stoking passions by calling troublemakers "scum", Sarkozy has ignored calls to quit. A survey published on Sunday indicated his public image was holding up, even if many disapproved of his strong language.
Villepin also has ambitions to be the right wing's presidential candidate in 2007 and has tried to position himself as a much more consensual figure than Sarkozy; the effect on the crisis on his ratings is still unclear.
With no end in sight to the nights of wailing sirens, acrid smoke, stone-throwing and destruction, residents from all ethnic backgrounds are tiring of the unrest.
"My kids can't sleep at night," said a mother named Samia in Aulnay-sous-Bois. "They hear explosions, they see fires and they think they're in a war. When the slightest thing happens, they get anxious and say 'Mama, what's going on?'"
What's with the car count? Some news agencies report they above figure as a running total, but this report says it's a nightly count. Why can't the media come clean and report the truth?
We aren't saving you this time.
Bonne chance trou de coules!
Oh wait a minute she is for the people burning France, nevermind.
O.M.G.!!
And I never want to hear another Euro-type talking about U.S. "ghettos" and racism, poverty, inequalities, unemployment, violence, etc. Pot meet kettle. Only France's (and Europe's) pot is much blacker than our kettle.
But they don't have Aaron Brown to look all "troubled" while reporting it.
I can't believe it! This is unreal.
"Destructive demonstrations" - give that man PC euphemism prize for the day!
There is much sadnees in the newsrooms of the MSM. A big story is happening but yet they can't blame George Bush, they would have to actually report that the fault lies with their heroes, the french socialists/communists.
Shoot 50 of them dead in the street, that will stop the rioting in a hurry.
But I'm sure the French are ready to fight to the last American if necessary...
Let Saddam and Kofi help them.
Horrific.....and it wouldn't surprise me to see it spread across Europe.....imho, they're just waiting and watching to see how the French authorities respond and react before doing elsewhere....so they can "improve" their attacks/chaos.
If you look at the birthrates in France; Muslims vs Infidels the Muslims will have a majority in 40 years in France, and can take it legally.
But they don't have to wait that long to overthrow the country. IMHO based on the French appeasement factor, I honestly believe a Muslim takeover of France can be done in the next 15- 20 years. Just my opinion.
Remember one side believes it is doing God's work(ALLAH), and is determined to dominate the Infidels in France. The French Infidels don't want a fight, many are unaware of the threat , and are appeasing the Muslims, therefore speeding up the day of reckoning. - Tom
All the Muslims in training camps south of Laredo, Texas, are preparing to launch attacks in the U.S. and they will laugh at us at how easy it was. I watched a report with three Republican congressmen on tv this morning, talking about how many Muslims are getting training in how to pretend they are Hispanic. They then can simply walk across the border and disappear. Many of them are white collar, as in architects, engineers, doctors... just waiting to coordinate attacks on the U.S.
I have to disagree with you BQ, the threat, IMO, is north of the border in Canada, where you have a Chirac clone govt.(Martin et al) appeasing the jihadis with generous welfare benefits and open arms.
How unbelievably whimpy....
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1516654/posts?page=1 .
"PARIS (AFP) the 10th consecutive night of urban violences ignited in the ghettos close to Paris and in surrounding areas, with a hundred cases of vehicle arson and ten shootings by 22H00. "
Yeah, that is definitely another extremely frightening prospect, for sure :( I was reading about what you said in the paper this morning. I don't know what we are going to do!
Since I'm on the southern border, I hear more about the terrorist training activity around here. Do people in the north ever hear about the threats from Canada?
The U.S. maintains 11 cemeteries on French soil. I presume they are also protected by the U.S. Military.
The riots have reached Rouen which is within a couple of hours drive-time to the U.S. cemetery in Normandy. Others might be even nearer to the riots.
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