France:Unmarked Vehicles Distribute Petrol Bombs

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After nine days, the rioting and arson sweeping French immigrant

communities spread Saturday from Paris to Toulouse, Nice, Lille and

Strasbourg after Dijon, Rouen and Marseille

 

November 4, 2005, 6:50 PM (GMT+02:00)

 

Police have arrested 250 rioters after 900 cars torched in Paris

region alone, including 23 buses near Versailles and parking sites

under apartment buildings.

 

US government warns tourists to avoid troubled districts. A witness

told DEBKAfile that vehicles without number plates were seen

distributing petrol bombs to gangs of youths in some riot areas.

 

The pattern of violence in the impoverished North African and

African communities shifted from crowds clashing with police to

targeted arson attacks by rampaging youths, many against businesses

and warehouses but also at least one school. Local officials lost

patience with the government after prime minister Dominique de

Villepan promised an "action plan for the suburbs" later this

month. "All we need is one death and I think it will get out of

control," said one mayor.

 

The rioting began last week when two teenagers of African origin

were electrocuted in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois while

fleeing the police. A tear gas grenade against a local mosque

sparked more rage in the suburb's large Muslim community. The

escalating violence raises fears of a spreading uprising by France's

estimated eleven million Muslims across the country.

http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=1145