Youths torch buses around Paris ahead of anniversary of riots
Last Updated: Thursday, October 26, 2006 | 2:56 PM ET
The Associated Press
Youths in suburban Paris set fire to three buses after forcing passengers off them, in nighttime attacks ahead of the first anniversary of riots in France's housing projects.
No injuries were reported, but after dark Thursday worried bus drivers refused to enter some of the areas, which are heavily populated by poor and immigrant populations. The prime minister urged a swift, stern response.
Last year's riots raged through housing projects on the outskirts of cities nationwide, springing in part from anger over entrenched discrimination against immigrants and their French-born children, many of them Muslims from former French colonies in Africa. Despite an influx of funds and promises since then, disenchantment still thrives in those communities.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a leading contender for next year's presidential elections whose hard-line stance has angered many in the neighbourhoods, promised to track down those who set the buses on fire.
"The people responsible should know that we are after them … and they will face severe punishment," he said at a news conference in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, where he was meeting with interior ministers from five other European countries.
About 10 attackers — five armed with handguns — stormed a bus in Montreuil, east of Paris, early Thursday and forced the passengers off, the RATP transport authority said. They then drove off and set the bus on fire. The bus driver was treated for shock, the RATP said.
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The handguns were unusual — last year's rioters were armed primarily with crowbars, stones, sticks or gasoline bombs.
Late Wednesday, three attackers forced passengers off another bus in Athis-Mons, south of Paris, and tossed a Molotov cocktail inside, police officials said. The driver managed to put out the fire.
In yet another attack Wednesday night, between six and 10 youths herded passengers off a bus in the western community of Nanterre and set it alight.
Character of violence changing
The attacks, and recent ambushes on police, have raised concern about the changing character of the violence, which appears more premeditated than last year's spontaneous outcry and no longer restricted to the housing projects.
Regional authorities said the Nanterre bus line, which passes near Paris's financial district, la Defense, was not considered a high-risk area. Francois Saglier, director of bus service at the RATP, said the attacks happened "without prior warning and not necessarily in neighbourhoods considered difficult."
The RATP was to meet Thursday with unions to determine which bus routes would be changed or limited in response to the unrest. Unions demanded that the RATP allow drivers to stop work in case of imminent danger.
"We will take measures that become necessary to avoid sensitive neighbourhoods," Saglier told reporters. The drivers feel "worry but at the same time a great sense of responsibility," he said.
Sarkozy said he would meet with public transportation officials and asked police to "mobilize all resources" to protect the transit system.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin urged a swift, stern response, but also said France should "revitalize" troubled neighbourhoods.
Campaign issues
France's inability to better integrate minorities and recent violence are becoming major political issues as the campaign heats up for next year's presidential and parliamentary elections.
Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, who is considering whether to run in next year's presidential election, said Thursday that recent attacks demonstrate "a desire to kill."
"Some individuals are looking for provocations, and sometimes go further," she said on i-Tele television. She acknowledged people facing unemployment and overcrowded housing "have trouble finding their place" in society.
The three weeks of riots were sparked by the deaths on Oct. 27, 2005, of two young boys of African descent, who were electrocuted in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois, northeast of Paris, while hiding from police.
