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)
Paris/France Burns, Live Thread Night #11
Paris/France Burns, Live Thread Night #10
Last night was the 12th night of rioting. Last night on Hannity and Colmes on Fox they had a taped interview with the head of the Police union in France and he said that the police had found heavy arms and grenades and had asked for the Army to be brought in since the second night of the riots.
Obviously he was ignored by the powers that be in France.
What's the total car count.... New peacenik poster idea...Bush Lied- France Fried...
French Toast?
"Every time they announce more powers for mayors, they cut the funds," complained Jean-Christophe Lagarde, mayor of the northeastern Paris suburb of Drancy.Well, if you want more money, Mr. Mayor, let them know you're serious: get out there and join the rioters!
13 nights and they're "planning on imposing curfews"!!!!???
Ya, good luck with that.
One wonders how long the other members of the EU will allow the unrestricted movement across borders..
French Ministry of Tourism announces new slogan: "Visit France - It's a real riot!"
They'll go communist before sending in the military.
Oh, things are getting better in France now that the government has instituted a dusk to dawn curfew.
Getting better?????
Really?????????
Isn't this absurd? In my world and probably yours, curfews would be in their 11th or 12 night and the planning sessions would be to consider when to lift the curfews.
NEW DAY - YESTERDAY'S MAP.
A fireman wipes his eyes as he walks through the rubble of a movie studio in Asnieres-sur-Seine, November 7, 2005. REUTERS/Victor Tonelli
A man walks past a burnt vehicle in front of the court house in Evry, south of Paris, after the 11th night of violence November 7, 2005. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau
Oh my oh my that really is horrendously hillarious!
enz zwei drei schnell allah akbar!
QUESTION: Does anybody know if car insurance covers a vehicle destroyed during a riot? I mean in the U.S. since I don't think very many FReepers know French law.
The Reuters reporter forgot to mention that the "French Youths" were muslims. I'm sure it was just an oversight...
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