
PARIS: French authorities yesterday stepped up police action against
youths responsible for more than a week of urban riots as suspicions
grew that the gangs were becoming increasingly organised.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy called a meeting of police chiefs to
discuss tactics as they braced for another night of violence that has
so far defied all efforts to stamp it out.
In a sign of the government’s resolve, police said more than 250 people
were arrested during Friday night alone – doubling at once the number
of detentions recorded since the troubles first erupted on October 27.
Nearly 900 vehicles were torched that same night, making it the worst
in terms of the arson attacks that have come to characterise the
rampages.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin held a crisis meeting with Sarkozy
and other key ministers Saturday, as the rioting dominated world
headlines and prompted the United States and Russia to warn its
citizens against travelling through Paris suburbs.
Officials were “unanimous in their firmness” in seeking an end to the
violence, Sarkozy said after the meeting. “The violence is not
acceptable,” he told journalists.
Paris prosecutor general Yves Bot told Europe 1 radio yesterday there
was “organised violence,” but did not say by whom. “If I could give an
exact answer, those people would already be under arrest,” he said.
“But we can see organised actions, a strategy.”
Youths have been seen relaying police movements by mobile telephone,
and have started Internet weblogs urging other parts of France to join
the unrest. – afp
Last update on: 6-11-2005 |