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)
The driver and one passenger were hurt, officials said.
Yeah, it'll be "we surrender".
a police spokesman called for a sense of proportion: "It's 211 districts out of 36,000, so France is not burning."
that settles that then.
stop! or I will say stop again!
Chirac is sounding more and more like Peter Sellers in the old Pink Panter movies.
Well, surprise, surprise, surprise. Their Socialist and Communist parties sound and act just like the Democrats here.
I'll say it again. New Molitov Coctain legislation would end this mess. What are the Fench waiting for?
"Chirac is sounding more and more like Peter Sellers in the
old Pink Panter movies."
LOL! that's a good one!
Inspector Chirac
Hey Chirac!
Just shut up and do it.
Why waste time holding press conferences?
Call Villepin, ask him how Napolean would handle this.
Otherwise, just resign.
Oh, I forgot, you are French. Never mind.
As far as I'm concerned, I don't think anything could further tarnish France's image anymore than it already is.
And Hurricane Katrina damaged about 50 cities from about 50,000 in America (complete guess). Guess that means we didn't have a problem either.
It's amazing how bleak and desolate these MSM cronies make Iraq look and how happy, lawful and full of order they make France look.
Talk is cheap. They should just give these poor unfortunates more money. That will solve the problem and allow the french government to save face. What kind of country is it when something like this goes on for 10 days?? Somalia? I said more than 2 years ago - france will soon be a third world country...
I have seen Chirac doing his PUPPET -SHOW.He somehow looked a bit tense.None of that arrogance.
He seemed a little less Pompous than usual, but could be he was trying not to sh@T himself on camera.
Kristopher.
I don't think so. The Sellers character bumbled into solutions from time to time. Chirac hasn't been so lucky. LMRO
Learn your English Chirac.
The word you were looking for was not 'tarnished', it was 'validated'.
Message to France:
FOR GOD'S SAKE, YOU FOOLS, SEND IN THE ARMY!
And while you're at it, SHOOT TO KILL!
Regards, Ivan
chirac takes 10 days before he "vows to restore order", where is the outrage in the press???
Bush takes heat 1 day after Katrina. Makes a lot of sense.
Isn't it sweet justice for all the articles the MSM spewed to the world about how Katrina showed how weak our American system of aid is, and, going back even further, how the 'hanging chads' embarassed America on a global stage?
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