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Fiery riots spread beyond paris Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/05/france.riots/http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/05/france.riots/
French PM to meet with community leaders
Fiery riots spread beyond Paris in ninth night of violence
PARIS, France (CNN) -- French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin was scheduled to meet with community leaders Saturday as authorities sought ways to halt violence that has struck the Paris area for more than a week.
De Villepin's meeting coincides with marches in several Paris suburbs that are intended to call for calm.
Friday was the ninth straight night of vandalism that has spread to at least 20 communities among largely immigrant and Muslim populations frustrated by poverty, high unemployment and what they see as discrimination in French society. In some areas, unemployment is 25 percent. (Full story)
The protests began in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where locals blamed police for the October 27 deaths of two black teenagers, who had climbed a fence surrounding a power station while running from police.
Police denied responsibility, and media reports said a preliminary study of the incident exonerated authorities.
Witnesses in Aulnay-sous-Bois said three TV journalists -- from France 2 -- were insulted and physically attacked on Friday night.
In Meaux, paramedics responding to a call were attacked, and a Molotov cocktail thrown at their ambulance.
Authorities arrested more than 200 people, an unprecedented sweep since the beginning of the unrest, according to The Associated Press.
Bands of youths also burned a nursery school, warehouses and 900 cars were burned Friday night and early Saturday alone, according to media reports, as the violence spread from the restive Paris suburbs to towns around France.
Police said 1,260 cars had been burned since the violence began last week.
An incendiary device was tossed at the wall of a synagogue in Pierrefitte, northwest of Paris, where electricity went out after a burning car damaged an electrical pole, AP reported.
Initially, the rioting was confined to Paris suburbs, but on Thursday night, rioting and car fires were reported as far away as Dijon in southeastern France. Violence was reported Friday night in suburbs north of Paris, in Lille in the north, Toulouse in the southwest and Rouen in Normandy.
The U.S. Embassy in Paris has issued a public announcement warning American travelers about the rioting.
"Although the riots have occurred in areas not normally frequented by U.S. tourists, travelers should be aware that train travel from the Charles de Gaulle Airport to the city center may be disrupted at times, as it passes near the affected area," according to the announcement, dated Friday.
"Travelers could rely instead on airport buses or taxis to downtown Paris. Americans should avoid the affected areas."
On Saturday morning, more than 1,000 people took part in a silent march in one of the worst-hit suburbs, Aulnay-sous-Bois, filing past burned-out cars to demand calm. One banner read: "No to violence."
In addition, religious leaders organized a peace march through the Paris suburbs.
Police and government officials are struggling to restore order, and debates are raging over how to quell the unrest. An additional 2,000 police officers were deployed on streets Thursday night, and the police union called for the assistance of French military.
There have been calls by the Green Party and the Communist Party for French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy to resign, after he called the rioters "scum" earlier in the week -- language that served only to inflame the vandalism.
CNN's Chris Burns contributed to this report
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.
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