After Six Nights of French Rioting, Chirac Jolted Out of Silence

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CLICHY-SOUS-BOIS, France – The French government was reeling yesterday after six nights of rioting that have exposed a split in the Cabinet over how to deal with poverty and immigration in the dilapidated Paris suburbs. The Associated Press reported the violence continued last night.


As authorities cleaned up the debris of another bout of violence, including the wrecks of 250 cars burned out on Tuesday night, both the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin and the interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, put off foreign trips to deal with the rioting.


“We sure showed it to them last night,” one youth in Clichy-sous-Bois, a grim suburb of high-rises some 15 miles outside Paris, said.


The worsening crisis jolted President Chirac out of a six-day silence into calling for calm and a firm hand in dealing with a “dangerous situation.”


“The law must be applied firmly and in a spirit of dialogue and respect,” the president said at a Cabinet meeting. Using words which could be seen as a critical of the tough policing tactics promoted by Mr. Sarkozy, he said, “The absence of dialogue and an escalation of a lack of respect will lead to a dangerous situation.”


The riots first broke out at the Chene-Pointu government housing complex. Last Thursday, two adolescents from there died when they scaled the 8-foot wall of an electricity substation to dodge police and were electrocuted. A third escaped with severe burns. The two dead youths, Ziad and Banou, have become symbols of the social problems that ring the capital.


“They were good kids coming back from a football game. Their criminal record was almost completely clean,” said Kolan, a black 22-year-old who was part of a foursome, all of North African origin, scuffing their feet in the housing complex entrance.


The police say they were not chasing the youths who died but another nearby group.


“We have witnesses who saw them being chased by two policemen. They had done nothing, but if the police chase you around here, you run, guilty or not, because you can be sure they won’t be kind with you,” Kolan said.


Chene-Pointu typifies the problems of many of the urban ghettos that surround Paris: a high immigrant population, soaring unemployment, and drug dealing.


Many of the youths blame Mr. Sarkozy for the continued violence, with what they consider to be highly provocative language. He has pledged to “industrially clean” government housing and to rid it of “scum.” On Sunday night, he promised “zero tolerance” of suburban crime. Two rioters have already received three-month jail sentences and a dozen more face charges.


“We’re not dumb. Sarkozy has declared war on suburban youth,” Karim, 23, said. “Unless he apologizes for the way he has treated us, then he can expect 40 nights of violence,” he said.


But others around the complex back Mr. Sarkozy. “What he says may be crude, but he’s right. Drug runners and petty criminals have had it good too long around here. There’s only so much social prevention you can do,” a social worker, Marie-Jeanne Sacre, said.


In the neighboring Bosquet houses, a 27-year-old worker in a local social center, Traore Gounedi, was incensed. “Ten years ago, Clichy was a real no-go area. But in recent years we had built up sports clubs and other associations, and it had become very calm. The way Sarkozy has dealt with this, sending in hundreds of riot police and using terms the National Front would be proud of, has put the clock back another 10 years. Once Ramadan ends on Friday, things will get much worse.”


As night fell at Chene-Pointu, sirens heralded the approach of two fire engines that positioned themselves in front of the complex awaiting the flames.


FROM ‘ WAR WITHOUT MERCY ‘ TO CHAOS IN THE STREETS


OCTOBER 19: Interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy declares “war without mercy” on violence in Paris suburbs.


OCTOBER 25: Mr. Sarkozy is pelted with stones and bottles while visiting suburb of Argenteuil.


OCTOBER 27: Two teenagers die after fleeing a police identity check in Clichysous-Bois. The boys tried to escape via a power sub-station and touched high-voltage equipment. Youths burn 23 vehicles and damage buildings.


OCTOBER 28: Mr. Sarkozy says the teenagers were not being pursued by police. Later, 23 police hurt in clashes with 400 youths in Clichy.


OCTOBER 29: Silent march through Clichy in memory of the dead teenagers. After nightfall, more violence, 20 vehicles burned.


OCTOBER 30: Six police hurt in clashes outside Clichy. Police tear gas grenade hits mosque.


OCTOBER 31: Families of the dead teenagers refuse to meet Mr. Sarkozy, saying he is “very incompetent.” Nineteen people are arrested and 68 vehicles torched in clashes with police.


NOVEMBER 1: The prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, meets the boys’ families. A junior minister criticizes Mr. Sarkozy.


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