Posted on 11/06/2005 1:21:11 PM PST by JustaCowgirl
By Elizabeth Pineau and Sophie Louet
PARIS (Reuters) - President Jacques Chirac on Sunday vowed to restore order in France after riots in Paris spread across the country and began to unnerve his European neighbours.
"The Republic is quite determined, by definition, to be stronger than those who want to sow violence or fear," Chirac said after a special domestic security council met to respond to the latest violence in which 1,300 vehicles went up in flames.
"The law must have the last word," Chirac said in his first public comments since the riots started in the poor suburbs, noting the importance of the respect of all, the law and the equality of chances.
Signs of a fresh wave of violence emerged on Sunday evening when youths seized a bus in Saint-Etienne, in southern France, ordering passengers to get off and then torching the vehicle.
The driver and one passenger were hurt, officials said.
In Rouen, in the north, rioters pushed a burning car against a police building. No-one was hurt, police said. Cars were also burnt in the cities of Nantes, Rennes and Orleans, media said.
Chirac's government is struggling to cope with an explosion of unrest with complex social, economic and racial causes.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said the government would step up security wherever necessary. Some 2,300 extra officers have already been drafted in.
"We cannot accept any 'no-go' areas," Villepin said after meeting Chirac, adding he would announce his plans for the country's underprivileged suburbs on national television on Monday.
Rioting began 10 days ago with the accidental electrocution of two youths apparently fleeing police. Their deaths ignited frustration among ethnic minorities over racism, unemployment, police treatment and their marginal place in French society.
"This is too much, stop!" sobbed a woman in Evreux, a normally quiet town in rural Normandy where a shopping mall, 50 vehicles, a post office and two schools were destroyed.
"FRANCE IS NOT BURNING"
Across France, 1,300 vehicles went up in flames overnight. For the first time, more than 30 were destroyed inside the city walls of Paris. Previously quiet towns such as Dreux, to the west, and the city of Nantes were also affected.
Police said 349 people had been arrested, including six youths caught stockpiling 90 Molotov cocktails in a disused police building south of Paris.
Despite the worst destruction since the riots started, a police spokesman called for a sense of proportion: "It's 211 districts out of 36,000, so France is not burning."
Authorities say drug traffickers and Islamist militants are helping to organise the unrest, via the Internet and mobile phones, among the North and sub-Saharan African immigrant communities who make up a significant part of many suburban housing estates.
The violence has tarnished France's image abroad, forcing Villepin to cancel a trip to Canada, while Russia and the United States have warned their citizens to avoid troubled suburbs.
Neighbouring Germany, too, has a large immigrant population, including over 3 million Muslims -- most of Turkish origin.
Wolfgang Bosbach, deputy leader of the conservative Christian Democrats in parliament, said Germany should be under no illusion that similar events could happen there too.
In Italy, opposition leader Romano Prodi called on the government to take urgent action, telling reporters:
"We have the worst suburbs in Europe. I don't think things are so different from Paris. It's only a question of time."
Jean-Marie Huet, a senior Justice Ministry official, said 160 people had been brought before the courts since the unrest started. Around 20 had been jailed, 30 others released on bail, and 50 minors had been brought before juvenile courts.
French Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande said the riots were a failure of government policy and leadership. Communist and Green Party officials demanded Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who wants to run for president in 2007, resign over remarks opponents say stoked the violence.
(Additional reporting by Brian Rohan, Astrid Wendlandt, Kerstin Gehmlich and Jon Boyle in Paris, Paul Carrel in Evreux)
I'm betting that you folks are thankful that Blair is in charge, and not Prince Charles. The prince is sounding more like Chirac all the time.
It'll make a pretty little minaret, won't it?
An addition to my earlier post : Since the French govt. is uncertain of the loyalty of a sizable portion of the French armed forces in this situation, perhaps it would be best if the French govt. asked to borrow the services of a couple of GERMAN MECH INFANTRY REGIMENTS to give the French police some steel in the spine so to speak. 8*)
My first thought is that's hysterically funny, however it also rings so true.
Fox News indicated that 10 policemen were hit by bullets and taken to the hospital. Riots are starting earlier and more confrontational. There's talk of sending out the military. I think that's should be obvious after 11 days of rioting.
The comments from the protests to the unceasing strikes in France were quite interesting and we enjoyed watching your activism on this side of the pond.
I just watched a long report on the French riots on the BBC.
The word 'Moslem' was not once used.
At one point a commentator admitted that the rioters were 'largely immigrants'.
That was all.
http://trans.voila.fr/voila?systran_lp=fr_en&systran_f=1131278979&systran_id=Voila-fr&systran_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.france-echos.com%2Factualite.php%3Fcle%3D7545
dimanche 6 novembre 2005
Re : Re : Re : Re : Les USA donnent l'ampleur qu'elle mérite aux émeutes Françaises, eux.
Thanks for all this american supports. And f**k CNN and all collaborationists and traitors medias ! Please don't think the majority of french are agree with french politicians. They are weak and just want to keep advantage of living - with our money - on luxury. We don't forget thoses who help us previously and i know it's a reciprocity. Is there a US website like France-echo where we could testify ? Despite of my bad english. God bless free countries !
Kafir 1er dimanche 6 novembre 2005
Re : Re : Re : Les USA donnent l'ampleur qu'elle mérite aux émeutes Françaises, eux.
Thank you so much American people from all the States of America. Thank you for your fiendly messages, that relief our pain. Don't apologize ! WE should do ! Our President Chirak who is a poor cretine has shown despise and haughtiness toward America, BUT NOT THE MOST OF US, THE FRENCH PEOPLE. God Bless France people and American people ! We love you !
How soon will Detroit alight?
I don't think any western nation has the will.
You're onto something, Detroit has a good chance of being first here.
Ivan, How will England handle this. England is the land of my ancestors. I hope that your government has the nades to crush this before it happens. I'm worried. You are our brothers. We are family.
Too bad that tunnel was ever built. Whose idea was it?
BTW: lock and load...
NJ
One must be flexible and allow a couple hundred tries or one could be considered an "Anti-Globalist".
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