French unrest worsens

2005-11-06 15:45

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.

- AFP