- Title: FRANCE: Sarkozy vows tough line against rioters
- Date: 28th November 2007
- Summary: CARS DRIVING ALONGSIDE SITE WHERE THE TWO YOUTHS DIED, WITH POSTERS AND FLOWERS ON PAVEMENT CLOSE OF POSTERS WITH PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE TWO YOUTHS, AND FLOWERS AT SITE WHERE THEY DIED
- Embargoed: 13th December 2007 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- Country: France
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA43EGA8HHNNP1FHLEY0G4BKCUY
- Story Text: In contrast to the violence and riots of the previous two nights, Tuesday (November 27) was a night of relative calm for the residents of Villiers-le-Bel, a northern suburb of Paris that has recently seen a spate of violence. The riots were sparked by the deaths of two youths on Sunday (November 25) in a crash involving a police car, the details of which remain unclear. Running battles and clashes between police forces and rioters have left more than 80 policemen injured. Police officers were hit with stones, petrol bombs and firecrackers that exploded over their heads during hours of skirmishes with rioters in Villiers-le-Bel and nearby areas. Despite appeals for calm from the crash victims' families, rioters torched libraries, burnt cars and damaged dozens of shops and businesses, police said. "In 2005 we had very little happen in Villiers-le-Bel, whereas now it's in our area, and I live in this area. I am at the forefront of what is happening. Frankly, it's traumatising," said Catherine, a resident of Villiers-le-Bel. In a show of solidarity, a small memorial of flowers and posters could be seen at the site of the crash where the two youths lost their lives. Early on Wednesday morning (November 28), French President Nicolas Sarkozy, visiting police officers injured in riots, vowed to take a tough line against protesters after a sharp drop in the nightly violence. Shortly after returning to France after a trip to China, Sarkozy went to a hospital in the Villiers-le-Bel suburb in northern Paris where a senior police officer is being treated for serious injuries after he was attacked at the start of the violence on Sunday. On Tuesday night (November 27), youths in Paris suburbs torched a few cars and set rubbish bins ablaze in the third night of violence. But officials reported no major clashes between youths and police who were out in force. Wednesday's early morning hospital visit appeared designed to show Sarkozy's support for police and show he would waste no time tackling France's pressing problems after presiding over 30 billion U.S. Dollars in business deals in China. Sarkozy, a law-and-order hardliner when interior minister during riots two years ago, vowed to bring rioters who had shot at police to justice. "Whoever is found responsible for committing violence against civil servants will find themselves in front of the criminal court, on charges of attempted murder. To attack civil servants is completely unacceptable," Sarkozy told reporters at the hospital. Families of the two youths met the president at the Elysee and continued calling for calm in the ethnically diverse suburbs. "He (Sarkozy) showed evident care and attention to the grievances of the parents of the two youths that were killed. In addition to the sensitivity which has been shown by this invitation, he shared his worries, the worry that we have expressed which is that the truth of the matter be brought to light. He has also indicated that a legal investigation should be opened, and that an examining magistrate be appointed," said Jean-Pierre Mignard, the lawyer of the families of the two youths involved in the accident with police. Later, Sarkozy called his ministers for a security meeting on the violence. He held talks with Prime Minister Francois Fillon, Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and other ministers to discuss how to avoid exacerbating tensions. The violence has revived memories of the riots in 2005, the worst unrest in France in 40 years, when thousands of cars were torched after two teenagers were electrocuted in a power sub-station after apparently fleeing police. There were isolated incidents in Paris suburbs overnight but the level of violence was sharply down from Monday night (November 26). Officials said the latest violence was nowhere near the scale of 2005 and was limited to a few areas. But the use of firearms so early in the disturbances has alarmed police. High unemployment, underperforming schools, poor relations with the police, inadequate housing and new immigration laws have created a generation of frustrated youths in rundown areas.
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