Two Weeks, All Is Relatively Calm

[Annie]

Obviously PE is correct, all this was just a blip and now France has it basically under control. Oh, we in the US could learn something about our gang problems. What's that you say? You didn't know that your gangs do this sort of thing regularly? Me neither. Just wait, I'm sure PE is going to enlighten us, we missed the boat somewhere along the line.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051110...w5vaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

Hundreds of cars burned in French violence

By Matthew Bigg 7 minutes ago

PARIS (Reuters) - Hundreds of cars were burned in France overnight in riots after the government imposed emergency measures aimed at halting two weeks of unrest rooted in discontent over conditions in poor suburbs.
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French police said at 2 a.m. on Thursday they had arrested 155 people and 299 cars were burned, compared to 195 people arrested and 458 cars burned at the same time the previous night.

A school in Belfort in eastern France was destroyed and vandalism at an EDF electricity station in Lyon caused some power loss in the town, police said.

But there were no reports of injuries and an official at police headquarters said the trend was "positive." More than 1,400 cars were burned overnight on Sunday, police said.

France imposed emergency measures on Wednesday in 38 suburbs, towns and cities including Marseille, Strasbourg, Lyon, Toulouse and the capital.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin published a decree invoking a 50-year-old law that gives regional government officials power to impose nightly curfews against the rioters.

Police arrested at least a dozen people and cars were burned in the southwestern city of Toulouse after youths clashed with police, local authorities said.

Authorities in Toulouse are yet to take advantage of the measures, which are supported by 73 percent of those surveyed for Le Parisien newspaper.

The violence by white youths as well as French-born citizens of African and Arab origin began in a Paris suburb on October 27 after the deaths of two youngsters apparently fleeing police.

It swiftly turned into a broader protest against racism, police treatment and poor job prospects in tough neighborhoods.

"TROUBLE SUBSIDING"

Claude Gueant, an aide to Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, said the unrest appeared to have peaked.

"We have reasons to believe that wisdom will prevail in the districts affected by the violence," he told Europe 1 radio.

Authorities in the Paris area where youths have burned hundreds of cars said Wednesday night appeared quiet.

"It's calm. The trouble is subsiding," a spokesman for the Paris district of Seine-et-Marne, where youths have burned cars on recent nights, told Reuters late on Wednesday.

Fears of riots erupting in other European countries have helped push down the value of the euro.

Economists expect consumer confidence to drop because of the rioting but say the impact on economic growth and the state budget is likely be marginal if calm returns soon. They see few signs of any long-term blow to foreign direct investment.

Villepin and
President Jacques Chirac have been under pressure to respond to the most serious rioting in France since the 1960s.

The violence has also added a dimension to rivalry between Villepin and Sarkozy, possible candidates for the presidency in 2007.

Villepin declined to take questions during parliamentary question time on Wednesday.

Sarkozy told deputies some 120 foreigners convicted of participating in the disturbances would be expelled, including those with residence permits.

The opposition Socialists have voiced only muted criticism of the emergency measures, passed in 1955 when Paris feared an insurgency in its then colony of Algeria could spread to France.

The Socialists used the measures in the mid-1980s to quell unrest in France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia.

 

[Annie]

For the record, the Watts Riots last 6 days:

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/us/A0851656.html

Many homes were lost to those that were supposed to be 'liberated.'

 

[Annie]

I heard tonight that France is concerned that the 'youth' may move to wealthier areas over the weekend, since the police presence in the 'neighborhoods' is overwhelming. This article seems to indicate such:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1639632,00.html

Chirac: France must learn hard lessons

Staff and agencies
Thursday November 10, 2005

Jacques Chirac today urged France to learn lessons from its fortnight of rioting as eight police officers were suspended over the beating of a man in suburban Paris on Monday.

In what was only his second statement on the crisis, the French president told a news conference difficult conclusions may have to be made.

"We will have to draw all the consequences of this crisis, once the time comes and order has been restored, and with a lot of courage and lucidity," he said.

Article continues
He also acknowledged that the racial inequality blamed for fuelling the unrest would have to be tackled.

"Whatever our origins, we are all the children of the republic and we can all expect the same rights," he said. "Everyone has a right to respect and equal opportunities."

Rioting declined for a third consecutive night last night after the French government invoked laws allowing local authorities to impose curfews and put people under house arrest.

A police spokesperson said two of the police officers suspended were suspected of striking a man arrested for questioning in the Paris suburb of La Courneuve with "unwarranted blows"; the six other officers were potential witnesses.

The alleged attack on Monday night left "superficial lesions" to the man's forehead and right foot.

The national police chief, Michel Gaudin said the number of vehicles burned last night was down to 482 from 617 the previous night.

Since rioting began, on October 27, when two teenagers of Tunisian and Mauritanian descent were accidentally electrocuted in an electricity substation while fleeing from police, the number of cars burnt each night has become a measure of the intensity of the unrest. The worst night of violence, on Sunday, saw more than 1,400 cars set ablaze.

Clashes none the less continued between police and people in the banlieues - the suburbs of French cities, where most of France's Arab and African immigrants and their descendants live in overcrowded conditions with unemployment running as high as 40%.

In the south-western city of Toulouse, at least 12 people were arrested after youths and police confronted each other in the street and rioters rammed a burning car into a primary school. Meanwhile minors were put under curfew in the Riviera resorts of Cannes and Nice.

Vandalism at two power stations blacked out parts of France's second city, Lyon, but the number of fire emergencies, at 1,340, was down 37% on Tuesday night.

Police said 203 people had been arrested overnight, with most of the unrest confined to Toulouse, Lille, Lyon, Strasbourg and Marseille.

Only five of France's 96 administrative districts invoked the emergency laws, but the state of emergency will last until November 20. Police fear that a national holiday this weekend could lead to fresh unrest.

The rioting has intensified the political battle between the French prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, and the interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, who are both casting themselves as heirs to the ailing Mr Chirac.

Mr de Villepin has been accused of losing political nerve after invoking the emergency laws on Monday. The measures date back to 1955, when the Algerian war of independence was at its height.

Commentators have expressed fears that to the descendants of Algerians, many of whom live in the very suburbs that have seen the worst of the troubles, the move will appear symbolic of a lack of change since that brutal conflict.

However, three-quarters of the French public support the emergency laws, according to a poll in Le Parisien newspaper. Mr de Villepin's more moderate stance had initially led to his being politically outflanked by the more populist Mr Sarkozy.

Mr Sarkozy, whose early description of the rioters as a "rabble" was said to have stoked the violence, prompting calls for his resignation, continued to push a rightwing line on the affair yesterday.

He told parliament that 120 foreigners convicted of involvement in the riots would be expelled from the country, even if they had residence permits.

The move echoed calls by the National Front leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, for people of immigrant backgrounds to be stripped of their French citizenship and send "back" to their countries of descent if found guilty of crimes.

President Chirac will be discussing immigration at a summit in Paris today with the Spanish prime minister, José Luis Zapatero, though the unrest is not on the agenda for the meeting.

Fears of the unrest spreading elsewhere in Europe have declined after a quiet night in Germany, which had seen sporadic violence on Tuesday night. Car-burnings in Belgium continued for a fifth night, but were considered to be fewer than in previous days.

Really, this doesn't bode well...

 

[Annie]

More:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_obj...sts-to-face-paris-riot-threat--name_page.html

10 November 2005
TOURISTS TO FACE PARIS RIOT THREAT

RIOTERS causing chaos across France may target Paris's busiest shopping area this weekend, police have warned.

They fear British tourists could be caught up in violence on the Champs Elysees after an email threatening trouble was sent to ringleaders.

So far 13 nights of unrest has been restricted to the suburbs of Paris.

More than 5,000 cars have been torched, with youths hurling petrol bombs and stones at armed police.

A source said the potential threat to the heart of historic Paris is being taken seriously.

The insider added: "We are anxious to prevent this planned rendezvous from taking place."

Thousands of officers have been drafted in to protect railway stations.

Tourists are being warned to be careful where they go at night.