77 Cops Injured in Paris Rampage, French Pres Plans Security Meeting

by Rob Walker | November 27, 2007 at 09:43 am | 629 views | 2 comments

Sarkozy is planning a security meeting in the wake of last night's riots, where 77 french police were injured.

[q
url="http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-11-27T133955Z_01_L2642622_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-FRANCE-VIOLENCE-COL.XML"]French
President Nicolas Sarkozy has summoned senior ministers to a security
meeting on Wednesday after around 80 police were injured in a second
night of violence in Paris suburbs.

Rioters pelted police with stones, petrol bombs and firecrackers
during several hours of skirmishes in Villiers and nearby areas
overnight. Police replied with tear gas and rubber bullets, and made
five arrests.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Interior Minister Michele
Alliot-Marie will be among those at the meeting following Sarkozy's
return from a trip to China, his spokesman David Martinon said in a
statement on Tuesday.[/q]

Nearly 80 French police officers have been injured, six seriously, during a second night of riots by youths in the suburbs of Paris, police unions say.

The police say some officers suffered bullet wounds, while others were hurt by stones, fireworks and petrol bombs thrown at them in Villiers-le-Bel.

The youths said they were avenging the two teenagers killed when their motorcycle hit a police car on Sunday.

A senior union official said the riots had been more intense than in 2005.

The 2005 unrest, sparked by the accidental deaths of two youths, spread from a nearby suburb of Paris to other cities and continued for three weeks, during which more than 10,000 cars were set ablaze and 300 buildings firebombed.