France approves curfew after new rioting
swissinfo | November 8, 2005 1:50 AM
France approves curfew after new rioting By Timothy Heritage PARIS (Reuters) - The French government approved emergency measures on Tuesday to allow curfews to be imposed in riot-hit areas after youths torched more than 1,000 vehicles in a 12th night of unrest across the country. The protests, blamed on racism and unemployment, receded in the Paris region after shots were fired at police the previous night but continued unabated in other parts of France in the early hours of Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said. Turkey urged its citizens living abroad to stay calm and an influential Muslim cleric called for calm. But five cars were torched in Brussels, in addition to five set ablaze on Sunday, in what officials say might have been copycat attacks. Fears over the violence helped push down the value of the euro, and French officials are worried the country's worst unrest in decades could hit investment and tourism. The government held a special meeting to adopt a decree under a 1955 law that allows regional government officials known as prefects to impose curfews in areas where they consider it necessary. The decree was due to take effect at 11 p.m. British time. "This is necessary to speed up the return to calm," a government spokesman quoted President Jacques Chirac as telling the cabinet at an emergency meeting after Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin outlined the measures on Monday evening. "The government's policy is firmness, composure and moderation," said Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. MIXED REACTION TO VILLEPIN PLANS Villepin said a firm line was needed against lawbreakers, including reinforcements for police as well as the curfews, not widely seen in France since the Algerian war of 1954-1962. he was due to address parliament later on Tuesday. A town east of Paris imposed its own curfew on minors on Monday evening and another to the west of the capital organised citizens' patrols to help the police. Villepin said 1,500 police and gendarmes would be brought in to back up the 8,000 officers already deployed in areas hit by unrest. He also promised to accelerate urban renewal programmes and outlined other plans to help young people in poor suburbs. But in new violence overnight after Villepin set out his plans on television, 1,173 vehicles were torched compared to 1,408 the previous night, the Interior Ministry said. At least four police were hurt, compared with 36 on Sunday night. Some 330 rioters were detained. Unrest hit Toulouse in the southwest, Lille in the north and Strasbourg in the east as well as the Paris suburbs, where the violence began on October 27 after two youths were accidentally electrocuted as they apparently tried to flee police. Mayors of riot-hit towns welcomed the government's tougher line, but some asked what another measure announced by Villepin -- extended powers for them -- would mean in practice. "Every time they announce more powers for mayors, they cut the funds," complained Jean-Christophe Lagarde, mayor of the northeastern Paris suburb of Drancy. Elisabeth Guigou, a Socialist deputy, said that invoking a curfew law passed during the Algerian war was "not the best reference" for fighting unrest involving youths of North African Arab and African origin as well as some white youngsters. The opposition Socialists said Villepin had not done enough to give hope to those people in areas hit by the unrest. Critics also said the conservative government's plan to deploy more police in rundown areas could further antagonise youths who blame the unrest on harsh treatment by police. CONCERN ABROAD The euro's fall highlighted concerns abroad. At one point the dollar hit a two-year high against the euro. Officials in Belgium played down the extent of the violence there, although there were minor arson incidents in Sint Niklaas in the north and Liege in the east as well as in the capital. But Brussels fire department spokesman Francis Boileau said: "Whoever set fire to the cars must have been influenced by the footage of what is going on in France." Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkish immigrants living in Europe to avoid getting caught up in riots, although there have been no reports of France's large ethnic Turkish community joining the violence. Influential Muslim cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi called for calm in the riots and urged the French government to address the root causes, the official Qatar News Agency reported from Doha. (Additional reporting by Sophie Louet and Tom Heneghan, Gareth Jones in Ankara and Bart Crols In Brussels)
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