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Restive France declares state of emergency
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-09 07:53
The French government declared a state of emergency Tuesday after nearly two
weeks of rioting, and the prime minister said the nation faced a "moment of
truth."
The extraordinary security measures, to begin Wednesday and valid for 12
days, clear the way for curfews to try to halt the country's worst civil unrest
since the student uprisings of 1968.
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A rescuer, left,
and a tow truck driver attach a truck's hook to a charred bus in Bassens,
near Bordeaux, southwestern France, late Tuesday Nov. 8,
2005. [AP]
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Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, tacitly acknowledging that France has
failed to live up to its egalitarian ideals, reached out to the heavily
immigrant suburbs where the rioting began. He said France must make a priority
of working against the discrimination that feeds the frustration of youths made
to feel that they do not belong in France.
"The effectiveness of our integration model is in question," the prime
minister told parliament. He called the riots "a warning" and "an appeal."
Despite his conciliatory tone, Villepin said riot police faced "determined
individuals, structured gangs, organized criminality," and that restoring order
"will take time." Rioters have been using mobile phone text messages and the
Internet to organize arson attacks, said police, who arrested two teenage
bloggers accused of inciting other youths to riot.
"We must be lucid: The Republic is at a moment of truth," Villepin said.
Lawmakers at the impassioned parliamentary debate also spoke frankly about
France's failings. But criticism of the government extended well beyond the
country's borders.
Images of French teenagers from north and west African immigrant families
pelting riot police with stones and gasoline bombs — reminiscent of Palestinian
youths attacking Israeli patrols — have struck chords in the Muslim world.
The Egyptian daily Al-Massaie referred to the riots as "the intefadeh of the
poor." Arabic satellite networks have given lead coverage to the mayhem, with
regular live reports. Newspapers have followed the story on inside pages,
calling it a "nightmare" and a "war of the suburbs."
Arson attacks, rioting and other unrest have spread from the suburbs to
hundreds of cities and towns — though acts of violence were down somewhat Monday
night from the previous evening.
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