France crippled by dearth of violence tackling ideas

People gather near burned cars late Saturday in the Third Arrondissement of Paris, the tenth consecutive night of unrest in the Paris suburbs and other French cities following the October 27 death by electrocution of two youths who were chased by police.. PHOTO: AFP

For 10 nights gangs of mainly Arab youths have roamed the poor outskirts of Paris, setting fire to hundreds of vehicles, destroying warehouses and public buildings, and engaging with police in exchanges of stones, tear-gas and even live bullets.

Far from the conflagration subsiding -- as previous outbreaks of rioting have done -- the violence has in the last days taken on a dangerous turn, spreading from its original flashpoint in the eastern suburb of Choisy-sous-Bois and sparking copycat attacks in other towns.

Though Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has spoken hopefully of the level of violence diminishing, privately senior police officials are pessimistic about the immediate future and see no reason why the wave of unrest should not continue to expand. "There are perhaps fewer clashes with police now because the rioters know we are under orders to make arrests," said one senior officer on condition of anonymity.

"But instead they are turning to big targets like parking lots and symbols of the republic like schools and police stations. The police are finding it hard to cope because our numbers are just not enough. And what we all fear is some blunder like another death. That would really tip the balance," he said.

For more than 15 years violence among disaffected members of France's north African minority has been a regular -- if little reported -- phenomenon. This year alone some 28,000 cars have been burned in small-scale outbreaks, even before the last week's flare-up.

But what has happened since the accidental electrocution of two teenagers on October 27 has taken on an altogether larger dimension, pushing to the top of the agenda not just the blatant failures of France's model of integration, but worrying questions also about possible orchestration by Islamic militants.

Sarkozy said on Thursday said there was "nothing spontaneous" about the unrest, and on Friday a leading police official said that Islamic radicals had "seized the opportunity to stir up hate and provoke incidents and fires."

"They have been training and manipulating the youth," said Bruno Beschizza who heads the Synergie police trade union.

The government's powerlessness in the face of this mounting challenge was on cruel display during the week, as it wavered between the hardline "zero tolerance" policies favoured by Sarkozy and the instinct shared by Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin for a more conciliatory line.

Both approaches were put into effect. Sarkozy bluntly denounced the "rabble" behind the disturbances and sent in riot police to reestablish law and order, while Villepin promised a new social initiative for the deprived "banlieues" by the end of the month.