Posted on 11/06/2005 5:07:47 AM PST by Dane
Thousand cars torched in latest French riots Sun Nov 6, 2005 12:17 PM GMT
By Elisabeth Pineau
PARIS (Reuters) - Gangs of youths torched 1,300 vehicles overnight in the 10th consecutive night of violence in Paris's poor suburbs and major French towns, despite the deployment of thousands of extra police.
Cars were burnt out in the historic centre of Paris for the first time on Saturday night. In the normally quiet Normandy town of Evreux, a shopping mall, 50 vehicles, a post office and two schools went up in flames.
Authorities have so far found no way beyond appeals and more police to address a problem with complex social, economic and racial causes.
Evreux mayor Jean-Louis Debre, a confidant of President Jacques Chirac and speaker of the lower house of parliament, told France Info radio:
"To those responsible for the violence, I want to say: Be serious ... If you want to live in a fairer, more fraternal society, this is not how to go about it."
The deaths 10 days ago of two youths apparently fleeing police ignited pent up frustrations among young men, many of them Muslims of North and black African origin, at racism, unemployment, their marginal place in French society and their treatment by the police.
"Many youths have never seen their parents work and couldn't hold down a job if they got one," said Claude Chevallier, manager of a burned-out carpet depot in the rundown Paris suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois.
But authorities now say the rolling nightly riots are being organised via the Internet and mobile phones, and have pointed the finger at drug traffickers and Islamist militants.
Overnight, 1,295 vehicles were torched across France, the highest total so far, police said. An extra 2,300 officers have been drafted in.
Seven police helicopters buzzed over the Paris region through the night, filming disturbances and directing mobile squads to incidents. Overnight, police made 349 arrests.
The number of incidents in the Paris region was similar to the night before, but in the provinces it was up sharply.
TARNISHED IMAGE
The violence has tarnished France's image abroad, forcing Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to cancel a trip to Canada, while Russia and the United States have warned their citizens to avoid Paris's troubled suburbs.
Villepin has combined a call for an end to the riots with dialogue with community leaders, youngsters and local officials, and has promised an action plan for 750 tough neighbourhoods.
"I'll make proposals as early as this week," the weekly Journal du Dimanche quoted him as saying.
But it remained unclear what could stop the violence, though some opposition parties have suggested a symbolic measure -- the resignation of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
Accused of stoking passions by calling troublemakers "scum", Sarkozy has ignored calls to quit. A survey published on Sunday indicated his public image was holding up, even if many disapproved of his strong language.
Villepin also has ambitions to be the right wing's presidential candidate in 2007 and has tried to position himself as a much more consensual figure than Sarkozy; the effect on the crisis on his ratings is still unclear.
With no end in sight to the nights of wailing sirens, acrid smoke, stone-throwing and destruction, residents from all ethnic backgrounds are tiring of the unrest.
"My kids can't sleep at night," said a mother named Samia in Aulnay-sous-Bois. "They hear explosions, they see fires and they think they're in a war. When the slightest thing happens, they get anxious and say 'Mama, what's going on?'"
Group Captain is a rank in the RAF, Group Commander is not (I'm assuming your're also referring to the character in Dr Stangelove).
Ahhhh. . .please enlighten: FR not a blog, it's a ?
Paris - Embattled French authorities were struggling on Sunday to deal with the worst wave of urban violence in three decades as arson attacks hit the heart of Paris and rioting spread across the country.
On the 10th night of mayhem, about 1 300 vehicles were torched across France overnight on Saturday and 349 people were arrested.
The night before, 900 vehicles were set alight and 250 arrests were made.
So far more than 800 people have been arrested and 3 500 vehicles torched, mainly in the working-class, high-immigration outer suburbs of Paris where unemployment is as high as 20%.
The violence spread over the weekend to Marseille, Nice, Toulouse, Lille, Rennes, Rouen, Bordeaux and Montpellier, as well as central Paris where large arson attacks were launched for the first time.
The fire-bombings took place near a major Paris square, Place de la Republique, and in the northwestern 17th district.
Police arrested 30 people, nearly half of them caught preparing Molotov cocktails to throw in parked cars.
Police said rioting gangs of youths were becoming increasingly organised after the discovery of a petrol-bomb factory south of the capital with 50 bottles ready for use.
Ski masks were also found.
Pressure was piling up on President Jacques Chirac to make a public announcement as it became apparent his government was powerless to rein in the worst civil unrest the country has seen since 1968 student revolts.
The only comment Chirac has made since the troubles began October 27 was through his spokesperson last Wednesday, when he said "tempers must calm down".
Emergency measures
Le Journal de Dimanche newspaper said Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who has been holding daily crisis meetings with key ministers, "is preparing to announce emergency measures to try to stop the violence".
Police helicopters fitted with cameras and searchlights were used for the first time over the weekend in a bid to pursue youths who start fires then race away on scooters.
Officers have also started breaking down doors in public housing estates to get offenders.
So far no one has been killed in the unrest, sparked by the electrocution deaths of two teenagers who hid in an electrical sub-station in northeastern Paris to escape a police identity check.
At least two people have been badly burnt by Molotov cocktails: a fireman, and a handicapped woman unable to get off an ambushed bus. A 61-year-old was also in a coma after being hit by an assailant in a public housing estate.
Interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy has said the gangs of marauding youths are becoming increasingly organised.
They have been seen using cellphones to relay police movements and internet blogs to urge unrest elsewhere.
Just before the riots erupted, Sarkozy had described delinquents in the suburbs as "rabble" and vowed to clean up crime in the neighbourhoods "with a power-hose" - comments that have angered people living in those areas.
The above is from South Africa News 24.
LMAO!
Rodney, your tagline has been requested on this thread.
Must repost this from Barnacle from Day 10+ thread.
"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
He might as well just bend over and "hold" his ankles, for all the good "holding" a security council meeting will do. I think it can't be stressed enough that france is the antithesis of U.S. policy regarding the war and fighting terrorism and spreading democracy. So the fact that this is happening in france really says something. It is proof that the liberal way of doing things DOES NOT WORK. Appeasement and placation only shows you as being weak, and muslim activists will eat you alive if you show that kind of weakness. And the french and democrats ooze that kind of weakness.
How is unemployment as high as 20% in the muslim areas when the french were supposedly importing the muslims to fill jobs because their own populating was aging and they needed worker? That makes NO SENSE. Stupid frenchie french.
Not a single word about this in today's Boston Herald - supposedly the "conservative" paper in town. But the Herald had lots to say about the usual celebrity gossip and whatnot.
I think it's time to cancel my subscription to that rag, which is turning into another National Enqurier.
Everything you said makes sense to me.
Except, well not except exactly, but let me add a possible occurence.
Suppose Al-Queda of whatever islmaofacist group, gets it into their head to aid and abet these French "insurgents", heh? Now I know there's rumors all about this is happening but no one says so for sure. So they sneak in rocket launchers and blow up some french planes. So they bomb the Eiffel tower.
Whatever they do, with a little help from their friends, that 10% could, what with the french being so panty-waist, actually take over the country.
I guess I sit here at times, pinching myself, and wonder if France could really be taken over by Islamofacists. Like so man didn't believe New Orleans would flood and be essentially wiped off the map. These things at times happen before our eyes and we think we're watching fiction.
Ah well, I suppose I should watch the action like everyone else and stop trying to predict the immediate future. I can't shake this feeling of deja-vu all over again.
When will they stop referring to this jihad as "riots".
Local news (N. CA) just reported 50 vehicle were burned in France last night by "youths". I think they are off by a couple thousand.
Total so far for the entire event: 4,500 cars have been destroyed. I just read that somewhere in the last ten minutes. Hard to keep up with all the threads and info.
In light of your recent status, I would recommend perusing the main page and the many helpful links. You scored bonus points by not posting a vanity under breaking news for your first thread. All threads are subject to being moderated, generally at the request of the thread initiator. Civility and decorum are requested, even when there is bitter disagreement.
Back to the subject at hand. The French people are being thrashed and trashed by some on these threads. I have no problem disparaging the socialist French government. We Americans get angered when we are on the receiving end of generalizations.
Yes, indeed. The Islamists strike too soon, as they did with 9/11. That would have been much worse if they had waited until they had even a 'dirty' bomb. Now we have them on the run.
I heard on News 12 NJ that Churches in Paterson were hit by rocks and a moltov cocktail was blown downtown...just bored teens? Or something more...anyone else hear??
Web forum.
It's a demographic explosion in progress.
Use sterner warnings.
Anyone remember this list? A link would be most appreciated.
Leni
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