yellowwing
11-03-05, 11:51 AM
Shots fired as French riots escalate
Reuters - Thu Nov 3, 2005 (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-11-03T134931Z_01_KNE228332_RTRUKOC_0_UK-FRANCE-RIOTS.xml)
By Paul Carrel
BOBIGNY, France (Reuters) - Rioters shot at police and fire fighter crews in the worst night of a week of violence in poor suburbs that ring Paris, as France's conservative government struggled to quell the unrest.
Youths who rampaged on Wednesday night left a trail of burnt cars, buses and shops in nine suburbs north and east of Paris, home to North African and black African minorities frustrated at their failure to get jobs or recognition in French society.
"It's a dramatic situation. It is very serious and we fear that the events could even get worse tonight," said Francis Masanet, secretary general of the UNSA police trade union.
Rioters torched 177 vehicles and attacked a primary school and shopping centre, local officials said. Four police officers and two firefighters were hurt, including one with facial burns from a Molotov cocktail.
Prefect Jean-Francois Cordet, the government's top official in the Seine-Saint-Denis region, confirmed shots had been fired at police and fire crews in three separate incidents.
"Four live bullets were fired. Two shots were fired at La Courneuve against police. One shot was fired at Noisy-le-Sec against fire crews, and one shot was fired against a fire crew in Saint-Denis," he told a news conference.
[story continues...]
This is Day 7 of their crisis and they are still predicting the worst...how long did the LA Riots last before it waas put down by Federal troops?
Reuters - Thu Nov 3, 2005 (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-11-03T134931Z_01_KNE228332_RTRUKOC_0_UK-FRANCE-RIOTS.xml)
By Paul Carrel
BOBIGNY, France (Reuters) - Rioters shot at police and fire fighter crews in the worst night of a week of violence in poor suburbs that ring Paris, as France's conservative government struggled to quell the unrest.
Youths who rampaged on Wednesday night left a trail of burnt cars, buses and shops in nine suburbs north and east of Paris, home to North African and black African minorities frustrated at their failure to get jobs or recognition in French society.
"It's a dramatic situation. It is very serious and we fear that the events could even get worse tonight," said Francis Masanet, secretary general of the UNSA police trade union.
Rioters torched 177 vehicles and attacked a primary school and shopping centre, local officials said. Four police officers and two firefighters were hurt, including one with facial burns from a Molotov cocktail.
Prefect Jean-Francois Cordet, the government's top official in the Seine-Saint-Denis region, confirmed shots had been fired at police and fire crews in three separate incidents.
"Four live bullets were fired. Two shots were fired at La Courneuve against police. One shot was fired at Noisy-le-Sec against fire crews, and one shot was fired against a fire crew in Saint-Denis," he told a news conference.
[story continues...]
This is Day 7 of their crisis and they are still predicting the worst...how long did the LA Riots last before it waas put down by Federal troops?