Posted on 11/08/2005 3:10:54 AM PST by Dane
French youths riot again Tue Nov 8, 2005 10:16 AM GMT
Villepin announces curfews French officials, community leaders
By Tom Heneghan
PARIS (Reuters) - Youths rioted across France overnight, torching more than 1,000 vehicles, despite government plans to impose curfews to quell almost two weeks of unrest.
The protests, blamed on racism and unemployment, receded in the Paris region after shots were fired at police the previous night but continued unabated in other parts of France in the early hours of Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said.
Other countries watched nervously and some issued travel warnings. Five cars were torched overnight in Brussels, in addition to five set ablaze on Sunday, in what officials say might have been copycat attacks.
The renewed violence followed a warning by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin that he would take a firm line against lawbreakers, including reinforcements for police and curfews, not seen in France since the Algerian war of 1954-1962.
Villepin's cabinet met on Tuesday and approved the steps.
"Wherever it is necessary, prefects will be able to impose a curfew," Villepin said, referring to the senior officials responsible for security in departments around the country.
A town east of Paris imposed its own curfew on minors on Monday evening and another to the west of the capital organised citizens' patrols to help the police.
Villepin said 1,500 police and gendarmes would be brought in to back up the 8,000 officers already deployed in areas hit by unrest. He also promised to accelerate urban renewal programmes and outlined other plans to help young people in poor suburbs.
MIXED REACTION TO VILLEPIN PLANS
Mayors of riot-hit towns welcomed the tougher line, but some asked what another measure announced by Villepin -- extended powers for them -- would actually mean in practice.
"Every time they announce more powers for mayors, they cut the funds," complained Jean-Christophe Lagarde, mayor of the northeastern Paris suburb of Drancy.
Elisabeth Guigou, a Socialist deputy from the northeastern Paris suburbs, said that invoking a curfew law passed during the Algerian war was "not the best reference" for fighting unrest among youths mostly of North African Arab and African origin.
The left-wing daily Liberation recalled in an editorial that Jacques Chirac was elected president in 1995 after pledging to repair France's "social fracture".
"Chirac's reign is a tragic farce," it wrote.
The opposition Socialists said Villepin had not done enough to give hope to those people in areas hit by the unrest, which has involved poor whites as well as French-born citizens of Arab or African origin complaining of racism and unemployment.
"Beyond the necessary calls for order, what was missing in the prime minister's address was a social dimension, a message and precise commitments towards the people of these areas in difficulty," the Socialist Party said in a statement.
ANOTHER NIGHT OF VIOLENCE
France's conservative government has struggled to formulate a response that could halt the unrest, blamed by many youths on frustration over unemployment, harsh treatment by police and racism.
The violence has prompted warnings that the unrest could damage investment and tourism in France.
The Interior Ministry said 1,173 vehicles had been torched during the night, compared to 1,408 the previous night.
At least four police were hurt, compared with 36 on Sunday night. Some 330 rioters were detained.
In Toulouse, youths set fire to a bus and 21 cars, police said. At least two cars were set ablaze near Lille and two more in Strasbourg, Reuters reporters said.
Police said 14 cars were set alight in the Yvelines district west of Paris and 17 in Seine-Saint-Denis north of the capital, home to many Arab and African immigrants where the unrest began.
Officials in neighbouring Belgium played down the extent of the violence there, although there were also minor incidents of arson in Sint Niklaas in the north and Liege in the east.
"There were no riots. These were all very isolated incidents. Whoever set fire to the cars must have been influenced by the footage of what is going on in France," Brussels fire department spokesman Francis Boileau said.
(Additional reporting by Eric Faye in Paris)
So I guess the rioters in Toledo were pretty funny too, eh?
Liberals in charge. Ha! They always set sail for the waterfall at the end of shit creek, yet everyone seems astounded when the nose dive begins.
Temper tantrums must never be rewarded.
The French lost that one. Anyways, I think the reason the French have trouble getting ahead of these problems it that they can't figure out who to surrender to. Hopefully some leadership will come from the rioters so that they take over the country.
LOL
Only because the OSS missed.
I said it was horrendous. It's also funny. It's a spoof, it's MEANT to be amusing. I live in Australia. I'm an aussie. What riots in Toledo?
Do you have a picture? Lighten up. I'm on your side.
That-is-certainly-my-motto!!!!
Seems like French mayors can not impose a curfew in their own town/city without national approval? If true, what a country!
that says that its very hard to get a pistol
awesome pic
to funny
Of course the French could swat this little rebellion like a fly, they have the means and the know how. But to do so would mean admitting all the liberal/socialist assumptions about how to create a workable, just society, free from class conflict, are... FALSE! So they just play it blase. It isn't coincidence that we English speakers had to import words like nonchalant and blase because we had no native English equivalents.
And what's more, the French are now officially 'racist'. Hey Chirac, how does it feel? For advice on how to deal with rock and bomb throwing youths, I suggest you consult your Israeli ambassador, if you haven't misplaced his phone number.
This rioting needs to be stopped now. Is it possible that the French government is unable to do anything to restore public order?
This situation in France is a preview of coming attractions to the USA if Hillary is elected President.
I'm glad you mentioned that because I heard the same report. It was very early and I thought I was hearing things so I thought I would check in here to see if the situation really had improved.
Your buddy Saddam.
Oh, I do recall reading about that on FR come to think of it, thanks for the reminder. I gained the impression it was somewhat of a non-event with much media spin, is that correct?
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