The persistent hit-and-run arson attacks show signs of strategy and coordination, said Yves Bot, the chief prosecutor in Paris.
"We see a form of action that is organized," Bot told Europe 1 radio Saturday. "It responds to a strategy…. It's done by mobile units of youths — or older guys because they are masked — who arrive on scooters, throw a burning bottle at a vehicle and leave.
"There are organized gangs, that's irrefutable," he added, "because it's done in a way that gives every sign of coordination. In fact, one can read blogs on certain websites inciting other cities to join the movement of the Parisian region."
But debate continued among authorities about the extent of organization.
A regional police intelligence chief here said small-time gangsters who have long dominated the nation's housing projects were instigating the troubles to assert control over drug-dealing turf.
Police also have seen indications in recent days that Islamic militants, another force in slums with big Muslim populations, have played a role in inciting vandals, he said, but to a lesser extent and "not on the front lines."
At the same time, other groups of Islamic fundamentalists have been active in trying to restore peace.
Overall, the intelligence chief expressed doubt that there was much coordination among the marauding gangs in different towns or regions.
"In this era of Internet, text-messages, cellphones and television, everybody knows what's going on," said the chief, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons. "The coordination comes mainly from the information revolution. The methods are similar because their social class is similar…. I don't justify it at all, but there is an element of social demand here, of social distress. The message is: Our life is [expletive], so we are going to destroy everything."
The trigger for the riots was an incident in the poor suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois in which two teenagers, one wanted by police, hid from officers in a power substation and were accidentally electrocuted. Prosecutors have determined that police were not chasing the youths.
The riots have escalated for several reasons. Resentment of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy's tough-talking anti-crime campaign has been cited as a cause by some rioters and community leaders. A few politicians, mainly on the far left, have called for his resignation, but Sarkozy remains popular with a majority of voters, according to new polls.
Another key factor: During the first week of the unrest, teenagers were home from school for a mid-fall semester vacation. Group violence in restive housing projects, marked by the torching of cars, often erupts during holiday periods in France and often results from minor clashes with police that usually do not involve injuries.
One mayor in the riot zone blamed criminal gangs and militants for the violence.
"The first three days, the rioters were not manipulated," said Mayor Eric Raoult, a former minister of housing. "But now they are. These groups don't want to see the police. They don't want a return of authority in the neighborhoods that would bother their drug traffic or their rackets. The guys we saw shouting 'Allah is Great' while burning cars … show that there may also be, among some, a religious subtext."
This all agrees with what I said. The Jihadists may not be on the front lines, but they are most likely instigating these yoots of "North African/Muslim origins". BTW, the "lesser extent" as used in the article as a discription of the Jihadists are Reuter's words and not a direct quote from the police. As such they're -- worthless.
Plus de l'article;
If the police were not chasing the youths then the riots are not a spontanoeus reaction to a real incident. They are instead, instigated...most likely by Jihadists who don't like the political direction the French government has taken in the WOT over the last few weeks.