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Arson attacks reach central Paris

cctv.com 11-07-2005 09:12

French Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, called an emergency meeting on Sunday following another night of rioting around the country. The unrest has taken a potentially alarming turn as the well-guarded capital also suffered arson attacks overnight.

Spreading urban unrest, with arson attacks on vehicles, nursery schools and other targets has now reached central Paris, where police on Sunday said 28 cars were burned overnight.

French Interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy and police special forces met with the prime minister at his offices.

He said: "It's been a difficult night, even though the police had a heavy presence on the ground. They've maintained a level of control that has permitted the avoidance of an awful lot of incidents."

Earlier, Sarkozy visited the hard-hit Essonne region to give the police his moral support.

The spate of violence began late last month in a low-income suburb northeast of Paris. It was in response to the deaths of two teenagers, of Mauritanian and Tunisian origin, who were accidentally electrocuted as they hid from police in a power substation.

The violence is forcing France to confront long-simmering anger in its suburbs, where many Africans and their French-born children live on society's margins, struggling with high unemployment, racial discrimination and despair.

Editor:Wang Ping  Source:CCTV.com


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