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)
Only for the first night. After that, they would dress for the occasion
Soon, there could be Muslim uprisings all over Europe. It’s unlikely that there will be riots in the old eastern-block countries. These countries simply won’t tolerate that kind of behavior and Islam knows that. One thing Islamics know how to do is pick their targets. Western Europe is weak.
The Giant's Tiki Barber. Ronde's brother :)
The wealthy elites might have their investments and business relationships threatened -- can't have that (/sarcasm)
What's the word on the rioting in other countries?
Exactly, BUT Chirac couldn't figure that our ahead of time! New base of operation for the terrorists!
Had no idea. Nice looking guy but his neck looked stiff!
They are definetly perceived as the weak horse.
This is urgent. The Senate must vote to give Chirac emergency powers. Its the only way to restore peace to the Republic. Perhaps even assume control over the Jedi Council.
JIHADWATCH (SNIP)
• The rioters have been shouting the jihad battle cry, “Allahu akbar.” As Muhammad Atta wrote in his final exhortation to himself, “When the confrontation begins, strike like champions who do not want to go back to this world. Shout, ‘Allahu Akbar,’ because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers.” While the mainstream media continues to identify the rioters as “French-born youths of Arab or African origin, many of them Muslim,” in fact the Islamic identity of the rioters is quite clear: rioters have avoided Muslim-owned businesses, preferring obviously non-Muslim targets.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/008897.php
I think that's a football player thing, the neck I mean. I like Tiki Tuesdays :)
They haven't even been given a chance to surrender by their own government.
Muslims, are every where..They hide out like rats in sewers and then when they have multiplied like same they attack..these barbarians should be dealt with like the murderers they are..
Tiki is a future TV giant....
I'd like to see he and Brian top each other in the menswear catagory each week.....maybe get really weird and for a finally, dress like some of Pam Greer's sidekicks in the 70s.....GRIN......nothing like an orange 3-piece liesure suit with matching pantent-leather shoes.....
Look for 'the-hard-working' Democrat voters to wander in about 10:30.
They've surrendered by "inaction" for 12 straight days!
It's hard to dress for being hosed down. Or to set fires holding an umbrella.
In persistent areas, after a curfew announcement, tear gas.
Mostly these "youths" are not the type of folk who want to be uncomfortable.
To say nothing of the most recent terror attempt on the Seabourne Spirit off the coast of Somalia.
Imagine signing up for a trip to that area...Somalia, next stop Yemen?????????????
Last night was the 12th night of rioting. Last night on Hannity and Colmes. . . 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
Heard that as well. . .would think that would make a few headlines; and a few heads. . .spin or just fall. . .
As to the Socialist Party calling for a 'social message'. . .they are the chicken and egg of much of the problem they now face. And so it goes. . .a socialist/communist society cannot escape it's own ever increasing - diminishing returns. . .
Down from 1250 the night before.
It's a wonder the media is reporting this at all.
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