FRANCE: Masked vandals set buses on fire in Paris suburbs, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin promises swift punishment

Record ID: 355882

  • Title: FRANCE: Masked vandals set buses on fire in Paris suburbs, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin promises swift punishment
  • Date: 27th October 2006
  • Summary: (EU)BAGNOLET, FRANCE (OCTOBER 26, 2006) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RATP (FRENCH TRANSPORT NETWORK) BUS STATION (4 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) ANTOINE MAESANO RATP DRIVER AND UNION DELEGATE OF CGT (GENERAL WORKERS CONFEDERATION), SAYING: "Our colleague was attacked by 4 or 5 masked vandals. They asked him to leave the bus, they asked passengers to leave it as well. There was no
  • Embargoed: 11th November 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3ZQFYLUAM2K43KXOGVP1OGGA2
  • Story Text: The French Prime Minister has vowed swift punishment on Thursday (October 26) after masked vandals set ablaze two buses near Paris overnight in an upsurge of violence ahead of the first anniversary of France's suburban riots.
    Passengers managed to escape from the buses in the western suburb of Nanterre and the eastern suburb of Bagnolet before the attackers torched the vehicles.
    The overnight incidents followed a daylight assault on a bus on Sunday.
    Police appealed for witnesses to the attacks and bus drivers refused to enter some of Paris's most troubled suburbs to protest against the violence.
    Youths on ethnically mixed estates around Paris have also staged several apparently concerted attacks on security forces in recent weeks.
    Police say the violence has been building ahead of the Oct. 27 anniversary of last year's riots in which angry youths from mainly immigrant backgrounds burned cars and trashed shops for three weeks in a protest blamed on poverty and discrimination.
    French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin promised swift punishment for those behind the twin assaults.
    "We can't accept the unacceptable. The situation in Nanterre concerning a bus and the latest attacks in some suburbs must lead to an immediate response. There will be arrests and immediate, exemplary punishment. It's our responsibility to do so," Villepin said in his monthly news conference.
    CGT union representative at RATP and bus driver Antoine Maesano said that the driver of the bus that was vandalised was traumatised by the attack.
    "Our colleague was attacked by 4 or 5 masked vandals. They asked him to leave the bus, they asked passengers to leave it as well. There was no violence, they stole the bus and burned it. Neither the passengers nor the bus driver were wounded. Our colleague is traumatised, " Maesano said.
    "When my colleagues arrived his morning, they considered that all the working conditions were not good enough to ensure their safety. In a show of solidarity and the right to refuse an order, we've decided today to stop working. So, we wait for RATP to make decisions about our working conditions, so that we can start our work again as soon as possible," Maesano added.
    The leftist opposition accused the government on Thursday of not doing enough to resolve tensions in the deprived suburbs that ring most French cities. But Villepin said his government had done more than any other to improve the lot of people living in the suburbs.
    Security in the suburbs is likely to be a major issue in the 2007 presidential election, with hardline Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy garnering much support for his tough approach to law and order issues.
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