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Chirac vows order as French riots spread
Reuters ^ | November 6, 2005 | Elizabeth Pineau and Sophie Louet

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)


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: afrogineverypot; cheeseeating; chirac; deadeurope; emptyrhetoric; farce; france; frenchmuslims; insurgency; oohlala; parisriots; riotingmuslims; riots; stuckonstupid; surrendermonkeys
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To: protest1

Gee, I'd forgotten all about the B'ham riots. It seems so long ago now.

Here's something I don't understand. People complain about illegal immigration here, but at least the Mexicans have created thriving business districts in L.A., Texas, Florida....well, just about everywhere!

Are there thriving Muslim businesses in these suburbs of Paris? Other European cities? If not, why not?


161 posted on 11/06/2005 3:00:40 PM PST by Timeout
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To: Drew68

ROFLOL! You disparage President Bush and the way he has dealt with terrorism and expect to be taken seriously??


162 posted on 11/06/2005 3:01:14 PM PST by ohioWfan (Take comfort, Friend George, God is with thee!)
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To: Arizona Carolyn
I think, ultimately, most of 'us' understand it better than any of our leaders.

And that, to me, is endlessly frustrating. There is a giant gorilla named "Mohammad" in the room that nobody in charge will talk about.

163 posted on 11/06/2005 3:03:38 PM PST by Drew68
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To: Jorge
We don't have to worry about Bush. He knows what he's doing.

Yes he does ... and I'm worried.

Bush's policies are encouraging unregulated immigration without any attempt to assimilate the growing masses of these immigrants. 85% of these immigrants share similar cultures, religion and life experiences. A prescription for unification into a monolithic mob should the US economy weaken. Sound familiar?

164 posted on 11/06/2005 3:05:30 PM PST by Amerigomag
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To: Amerigomag

This is the arm of the GOP and the RAT's I don't like... one is appeasing big business and putting our country in danger and the other thinks if they are liberal on immigration the hispanic vote will be their's... and both are disingenious.


165 posted on 11/06/2005 3:07:18 PM PST by Arizona Carolyn
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To: wouldntbprudent

Two corrections--

The first is that Chirac does like Saddam--the two have been close friends for about 20 years. According to L'Express (the French counterpart to Time/Newsweak) Chirac even learned Arabic so they could communicate without an interpreter!

2) There are in fact a good number of Frenchmen who are armed, at least with hunting guns. However, the right to self=defense is English in origin. I'm not sure how it works in civil law countries.

3)France is at least 80% non-Muslim.

The left and the media have been calling for the resignation of Sarkozy, the hard-line Minister of the Interior. Sarkozy wants to run for President in 2007. What I fear is that Chirac and deVillepain are willing to let France burn long enough to destroy Sarkozy's chances--they are both corrupt and stupid enough. The French police and military have a reputation for toughness and even brutality--someone at the top is holding them back.


166 posted on 11/06/2005 3:07:32 PM PST by born in the Bronx
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To: JustaCowgirl
I guess you want our help now huh Chirac?

You bunch of pansies!


167 posted on 11/06/2005 3:07:46 PM PST by unixfox (AMERICA - 20 Million ILLEGALS Can't Be Wrong!)
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To: cgbg

Yes, but some of them are from an Algerian tribe called the Harki (sp?), who were loyal to France during the Algerian war and have no love for the people causing the violence.


168 posted on 11/06/2005 3:09:04 PM PST by born in the Bronx
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To: JustaCowgirl
At least at this point they are ordering people off the vehicles before they're torched.

I pray that it doesn't escalate beyond that....

169 posted on 11/06/2005 3:09:08 PM PST by ohioWfan (Take comfort, Friend George, God is with thee!)
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To: JustaCowgirl

What they need is a nuanced poem from that great man, de Villepain.

Let them eat S##T.

Pardon my French.


170 posted on 11/06/2005 3:09:29 PM PST by Anselma (MSM: leaders in Whirled News.)
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To: JustaCowgirl
every day we realize once again what bullets we dodged

And why we need to be sure Hildy or Kerry (or whoever the dems pick) don't win in 2008.

171 posted on 11/06/2005 3:09:59 PM PST by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires.)
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To: Richard Axtell

They do realize it--Chirac's approval numbers have been as low as 28% this year. However, the next election is in 2007.


172 posted on 11/06/2005 3:10:33 PM PST by born in the Bronx
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To: Amerigomag

The two situations are not parallel.......and I think you know that.


173 posted on 11/06/2005 3:11:07 PM PST by ohioWfan (Take comfort, Friend George, God is with thee!)
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To: JustaCowgirl
Cool it Monsieur ChIraq, there is no problem if a few hundered cars and trucks get burnt up every night. That makes it easier for us frogs to Bar Hop in Gay Parie!



174 posted on 11/06/2005 3:11:31 PM PST by Grampa Dave (MSM pseudo reporters use "could, may, and might" when they are lying and spinning.)
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To: Grampa Dave
1,300 vehicles went up in flames.

Does Geico sell car insurance in France?

175 posted on 11/06/2005 3:13:22 PM PST by TeleStraightShooter (When Frist exercises his belated Constitutional "Byrd option", Reid will have a "Nuclear Reaction".)
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To: Dan Nunn

"... about how Katrina showed how weak our American system of aid is... "

But Ted Kennedy, on Russert (another item on FR today) referred to, and I quote, "the failure of Katrina". Hmmm.


176 posted on 11/06/2005 3:14:22 PM PST by Anselma (MSM: leaders in Whirled News.)
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To: jern
stop! or I will say stop again!

Stop, or we'll hold another round of high-level meetings!

177 posted on 11/06/2005 3:14:57 PM PST by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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To: cake_crumb

"Just like the old fols dropping like flies in the 80 degree "heat wave" weren't a problem."

Good connection.


178 posted on 11/06/2005 3:15:07 PM PST by strategofr (The secret of happiness is freedom. And the secret of freedom is courage.---Thucydities)
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To: Fudd Fan
Actually, Dearborn would be first (huge muslim population).  Detroit is like 90% African American.  Not too many Detroiters are going to "riot" for the muzzies cause.
179 posted on 11/06/2005 3:15:09 PM PST by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires.)
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To: cpdiii
Snipers scare the hell out of trained military personnel. Snipers would easily disperse an untrained mob. If you are in a mob and several people drop dead around you and others drop dead as you are fleeing you will not riot you will not burn cars. Your gut will be knotted up and the adrenaline will be pumping. You will run as if your life depended on it, because it would. Careful selection of the target is also important. Shoot the ring leaders first then pick off the mob. If possible a head has a devastating psychological effect on the others. At distances of 200 to 300 yards this would not be difficult at all with the right rifle.

When things get to the juncture they're now at in France, I quite agree. It's absolutely the most humane thing to do.

180 posted on 11/06/2005 3:16:26 PM PST by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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