New wave of arson attacks hit Paris suburbs
CTV.ca
Chaos erupted again in Paris's poor suburbs where rioting youths set fire to cars early Saturday, as the unrest spread from Paris to at least three other French cities.
There were signs that clashes between riot police and angry youth were abating on Friday, but police say rioters had set fire to hundreds of vehicles across Paris suburbs in a wave of arson attacks.
The violence, which erupted more than a week ago, had been concentrated in the low-income region of Seine-Saint-Denis, northeast of Paris.
But police said rioters fired bullets into a vandalized bus and burned 85 more cars in Paris and Suresnes, a suburb just to the west. East of Paris, in Meaux, officials said youths pelted stones at rescuers trying to help someone who had fallen ill.
Warehouses in Aubervilliers, on the northern edge of Paris, were set ablaze, while other fires raged outside the capital in Lille, Toulouse, and Rouen.
The violence ignited over the accidental electrocution of two teens on Oct. 27 who fled a soccer game and hid in a power substation when they saw police enter the area.
Youths in the neighbourhood believe Traore Bouna, 15 and Zyed Benna, 17, were chased to their deaths by police.
A preliminary report issued Thursday cleared officers of any wrongdoing in the teen's deaths.
The roots of the tension lie in the poverty of the areas affected, home mostly to immigrants from Islamic North African countries.
During the day Friday, the burned remains of at least 520 cars littered the streets of Paris. The Interior Ministry said that five police officers were lightly injured by youths throwing stones or bottles.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin vowed to restore order. He postponed a trip to Canada amid the crisis.
Concerned that foreign media coverage was exaggerating the situation, the French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jean-Baptiste Mattei said "I don't have the feeling that foreign tourists in Paris are in any way placed in danger by these events."
But the violence has alarmed the government of President Jacques Chirac.
"This is the first time (suburban violence) has lasted so long and the government appears taken aback at the magnitude," said Pascal Perrineau, director of the Centre for Study of French Political Life.
Religious leaders are expected to hold a silent march on Saturday in Aulnay-sous-Bois, one of the hard-hit suburbs, in an attempt to cool tensions.
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