Print this page Weary France acts to reclaim streets Emma-Kate Symons, Paris 09nov05 FRANCE will impose curfews under state-of-emergency laws dating from the Algerian war of the 1950s and call up 1500 reservists to help restore order in hundreds of French suburbs and towns paralysed by almost two weeks of rioting. Ahead of an emergency cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin accused organised criminals of fanning the urban violence, and promised to improve access to education for teenagers in poor suburbs. But despite the Prime Minister's tough talk, and undeterred by the first death linked to the rioting, rampaging youths again took to the streets of Bordeaux, Lille and Toulouse in the 12th night of violence. While some cars and buildings were set alight in Paris, the violence was most severe in the provinces, with French radio reporting 1200 cars had been torched across the country and about 300 arrests made. Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front claimed Mr de Villepin had followed the far-Right party's calls for a curfew, but the Prime Minister resisted the push for the army to be brought in to restore order to the streets. "We are not at that point," Mr de Villepin told French television. "At each step, we will take the necessary measures to re-establish order very quickly throughout France. That is our prime duty - ensuring everyone's protection." Mr de Villepin's comments came as other European countries with large immigrant populations expressed fears of French-style outbreaks of violence. To curb the unrest in France, about 1500 reserve officers will be called up to help the 8000 police patrolling the streets during the country's worst urban violence since the 1960s. Organised criminals were now involved in destroying the peace of France's suburbs and towns, Mr de Villepin said, although he did not discount the involvement of Islamist radicals in a country that has Europe's largest Muslim minority, of about 5 million. "That element must not be neglected," he said. In response to widespread calls for a radical new plan to tackle the social and economic alienation that is rife in the suburbs of Paris and regional France, the Prime Minister promised the Government would quickly unlock a multi-billion-dollar fund for urban redevelopment and social change. "It's also the responsibility of each of us to change our behaviour, to change the way we look at people," he said. The opposition Socialist Party cautioned that the curfew law could be applied only in a limited fashion and for a short period. But many residents of the poor suburbs of Paris reacted angrily to Mr de Villepin's first major response to the rioting, saying it was a "measure of war" and condemning the Prime Minister's lack of compassion and sensitivity towards the problems of their areas, where unemployment can be three times as high as in the city centres. The riots claimed their first victim yesterday when 61-year-old Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec died. He had fallen into a coma last week after he was beaten while trying to put out flaming bins outside his apartment in the northern Paris suburb of Stains. "The multiplying acts of destruction, the destruction of schools and sports centres, thousands of cars set on fire - all of this is unacceptable and inexcusable," Mr de Villepin said. "To all in France who are watching me, who are disturbed by this, who are shocked, who want to see a return to normality, a return to security, the state's response - I say it forcefully - will be firm and just."
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