2nd night of violence in Paris suburb

By Ariane Bernard
Monday, November 26, 2007

VILLIERS-LE-BEL, France: Dozens of youths clashed with the police for the second night in a row in a disadvantaged suburb north of Paris, throwing stones, glass and firebombs against large contingents of heavily-armed riot police officers and moving nimbly from target to target on several fronts, torching cars and a garbage truck.

The clashes began when two teenagers traveling on a motorbike died in a collision with a police car Sunday afternoon in the town of Villiers-le-Bel, about 12 miles north of Paris, in the Val d'Oise department. President Nicolas Sarkozy, in China on Monday on an official visit, appealed for calm.

Over a hundred youths had pushed riot police officers into the middle of a four-way intersection, raining projectiles on them from at least two directions. Police officers replied with tear gas and paint guns to mark the attackers for future arrest. Broken glass and used tear-gas canisters littered the road.

At least one police officer was wounded, and law enforcement officials at the scene were talking of an attacker using a shotgun on them. Within sight of the intersection, a garbage truck was on fire, apparently unattended as youths were lined up behind the truck.

At least 15 cars were burned down, with the police guarding the local fire department and moving in with them to protect firefighters as they put out fires. At least three buildings suffered some fire damage, including a library and a post office, a spokesman for the police in Val d'Oise said. Many of the youths had clearly planned their attack, having lined up garbage cans in the middle of the street.

"One gas tank, here," shouted one riot police officer, signaling to a blue gas tank sitting abandoned at the foot of a tree.

Later in the evening, as attackers were throwing projectiles at the center of the intersection, the situation got more confused, with the police trying to move away some of their vehicles so as not to serve as targets, while other officers tried to create moving shields to protect against the pelting.

"Journalists, take cover, take cover," said an officer as he ducked behind a police vehicle parked in the center of the intersection. Firecrackers could be heard exploding overhead. When a firebomb hit a garbage can, the youths could be heard cheering. Standing on the sideline of the battles, one youth was holding a makeshift poster of one of the two youths: "Deceased 25/11/07. Dead for nothing" A police car in one of the lanes going into the intersection remained on fire for a number of minutes before officers could shield some firefighters to put out the blaze.

Tear gas could be smelled from hundreds of yards away, and the police could only seem to be responding to the youths rapidly shifting positions. The two teenagers who died on Sunday afternoon were identified in the French media merely as 15 year-old Moushin and 16 year-old Larami, who were riding on a small motorbike, or 'dirt-bike,' in Villiers-le-Bel.

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November 28, 2007
77 Police Officers Hurt in Paris Riots
By KATRIN BENNHOLD and ARIANE BERNARD

PARIS, Nov. 27 — Nearly 80 French police officers were injured during clashes with youths in a working- and lower-class suburb north of Paris last night, and six are in serious condition, police officials said, after some of the youths used hunting shotguns as well as more conventional guns, fire bombs and rocks.

Of the 77 officers who were injured, six were in serious condition, two of them as a result of gunfire, said Francis Debuire, a representative of the National Union of Police Officers in the district where the fighting took place.

Police union officials expressed concern that the violence was more severe than the fighting that had occurred in the Paris suburbs over three weeks of rioting in 2005.

“The violence over the last days has been worse than two years ago in terms of its intensity,” Mr. Debuire said.

As in the 2005 riots, the youths were mostly attacking the police mostly with fire bombs, rocks and other projectiles, but they also had guns and appeared to use them more this time. Mr. Debuire said youths used hunting shotguns and also some conventional weapons.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has appealed for calm, will hold an emergency meeting with security officials to discuss the violence when he returns from a visit to China on Wednesday, his spokesman said in a statement.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon and the interior minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, will both attend the meeting, said the spokesman, David Martinon.

The clashes occurred for the second night in a row, with dozens of youths confronting large contingents of heavily armed riot police officers and moving nimbly from target to target on several fronts, burning cars and a garbage truck.

The clashes began when two teenagers traveling on a motorbike died in a collision with a police car on Sunday afternoon in the town of Villiers-le-Bel, about 12 miles north of Paris, in the Val d’Oise department. The two teenagers were identified in the French news media merely as 15-year-old Moushin and 16-year-old Larami, who were riding a motorbike in Villiers-le-Bel.

On Monday night, more than 100 youths had pushed riot police officers into the middle of a four-way intersection, raining projectiles on them from at least two directions. Police officers responded with tear gas and paint guns to mark the attackers for future arrest. Broken glass and used tear-gas canisters littered the roads.

During the violence, a garbage truck was on fire within sight of the intersection, apparently unattended as youths lined up behind it.

At least 15 cars were burned, with the police guarding the local fire department and protecting firefighters as they put out fires. At least three buildings suffered some fire damage, including a library and a post office, a spokesman for the police in Val d’Oise said.

Standing on the sideline of the battles Monday night, one youth was holding a poster of one of the two dead youths: “Deceased 25/11/07. Dead for nothing.”

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Police say Paris rioters are armed as clashes escalate

· Officials claim they face urban guerrilla tactics
· Violence is described as worse than in 2005

Emilie Boyer King in Paris
Wednesday November 28, 2007
The Guardian

Officials in Paris last night warned that rioters in the suburb of Villiers-le-Bel were armed with hunting rifles and air rifles as clashes with police continued to escalate.

More than 70 police officers were injured on Monday night, three of them seriously, in clashes with rioters armed with molotov cocktails and firecrackers. One officer was shot in the shoulder with an air rifle.

"We're dealing with an urban guerrilla tactic, with the use of conventional arms and hunting rifles," said Bruno Beschizza, of the Synergie police union.

One rioter with a shotgun "was firing off two shots, reloading in a stairwell, coming back out - boom, boom - and firing again", Gilles Wiart, deputy head of the SGP-FO police union, told the Associated Press.

Angry youths descended on Villiers-le-Bel for two nights in a row, burning cars, looting shops and trashing dozens of buildings, including a local police station. The town's library was destroyed in a fire.

The riots were sparked on Sunday when two teenagers died in a motorcycle accident involving a police car. The rioters seem to be directing their anger at the police after residents claimed that the two officers involved in the crash fled the scene without helping the boys.

"I was there yesterday, and I'm going to be there tonight," said Marc, a 19-year-old who lives on the estate where the accident happened and who would not give his real name. "We don't think it's a good thing to destroy the shops, but we're in this all together. And we won't stop until justice is made."

At about 5pm on Sunday, a mini-motorcycle and a police car on patrol collided, killing 15-year-old Moushin and his friend Larami, 16. Police said the teenagers were driving an unregistered vehicle and were not wearing helmets.

An investigation on suspicion of possible manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident has been opened by the police oversight agency.

Police say the riots are more violent than those of late 2005, which also started in a Paris suburb after the death of two youths, both accidentally electrocuted while fleeing police.

"It's different, there's much more violence," said Christophe, a 30-year-old police officer on duty at Villers-le-Bel and during the 2005 riots. "Back then, it was more of a revolt. This time, they're after us and they're armed."

The prime minister, François Fillon, who visited the scene yesterday morning, announced increased security for tonight. "I'd like to pay tribute to the police, who had an extremely difficult night," he said. "Those who shoot at police are criminals and they will be treated as such."

He told firefighters in the town: "We will not let go. We will fight with all the force the nation is capable of."

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Sarkozy promises tough stance on rioters

Matthew Weaver and agencies
Wednesday November 28, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, vowed today to take a tough stance against rioters after a third night of violence in a rundown Paris suburb spread to the south-western city of Toulouse.

"What has happened is absolutely unacceptable," Sarkozy said after meeting a wounded police captain at a hospital in Eaubonne, north of Paris.

Speaking after returning from China, the president focused on armed rioters who had shot at police on Monday evening.

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"We will find the shooters," he said, promising to "bring them to account before justice".

He described the incident that sparked the violence - the death on Sunday of two teenagers riding a motorbike in an accident with a police car in the Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel - as "distressing". But he added: "Shooting at police has no link to this incident."

This morning Sarkozy also visited the families of the two accident victims.

Reuters quoted him saying shooting at police "has a name - attempted murder". He added: "It is not something we can tolerate, no matter how dramatic the deaths of these two youngsters on a motorbike may be."

Sarkozy stopped short of describing the rioters as "racaille" - a word that literally translates as "rabble" but is perceived to mean "scum" in the suburbs. His use of that term as interior minister in 2005 inflamed similar unrest taking place then

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