France: 21 police officers injured in clashes with rampaging youth in Paris suburb

by Barry Artiste | November 26, 2007 at 06:21 am

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Two youth on motorcycle ignoring traffic rules, died after driving into the side of a Police car. The neighbourhood erupting into a war zone in this predominately poor neighbourhood resulted in the Police Chief trying to negotiate calm with the Rioters who beat the Police Chief. Molotov cocktails thrown by Rioters reduced the police station to rubble. The Rioters, mostly unemployed immigrants feel discriminated against.

One wonders, when Rioters seem to prefer Violence above all else when not getting their way. The last riot in this neighbourhood was in 2005 which resulted in pretty much the same scenario. European countries have taken note of similar immigrant unrest in France when it comes to immigration and crime has some euuropean countries implementing strict immigration laws to include swift deportation of immigrants who commit criminal acts as these european countries do not wish a repeat of Frances situation in their countries.

VILLIERS-LE-BEL, France - Groups of youths assaulted a police station, torched cars and vandalized stores in a weekend rampage that injured 21 police officers in this rundown Paris suburb.

The violence Sunday night, prompted when two teens were killed in a motorbike crash with a police patrol car, was a reminder that the tensions that drove countrywide riots in immigrant-heavy housing projects in 2005 remain unresolved.

Questions remained Monday about the crash in Villiers-le-Bel, a town of public housing blocks that is home to Arab, black and white residents, just a few kilometres north of the French capital.

Eight people were arrested and 21 police officers were injured - including the town's police chief who was beaten in the face after he tried to negotiate with the rioters, a police official said on condition of anonymity.

Residents drew parallels with the 2005 riots, which were prompted by the deaths of two teens electrocuted in a power substation while hiding from police in a suburb northeast of Paris.

The backlash then against police spread across the country and raged for three weeks, as young people - many of them black or of Arab origin - torched cars and clashed with police in an explosion of anger over discrimination, unemployment and alienation from mainstream French society.

The mayor of Villiers-le-Bel called for calm Monday, though police appeared to be bracing for the possibility of more violence.

The mayor demanded an "impartial investigation" as quickly as possible.

"I ask for a stop to this violence, I ask all residents and especially the youth not to succumb to anger," Didier Vaillant said on RTL radio.

Sunday's night's clashes came hours after the motorcycle crashed into the patrol car. A 15-year-old and 16-year-old were killed in the accident.

Police officials said the motorbike ignored traffic rules and ran into the police vehicle, and that the bike was unregistered and neither teen was wearing a helmet.

The police station that was vandalized was little more than a shell after youths lobbed Molotov cocktails at the building. Few shops in town were spared the violence. About 15 cars were torched, and several fires were set in garbage cans.

The head of the opposition Socialist party, Francois Hollande, called the violence the result of "a social and political crisis."

"Promises were made. We want to see the results," Hollande said on France-Inter radio. She was referring to government promises to address suburban tensions after the 2005 riots.

"How long have we been talking about a plan for the suburbs?"