French Intifada, Day 10
Schools burn as Paris riots enter 10th night. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)
Two schools have been burned down in Paris and hundreds of cars set on fire in cities across France in a 10th night of rioting in poor suburban areas.
The Interior Ministry says the schools have been set ablaze in the Paris suburb of Essonne, but no one has been hurt in the attack. About 68 people have been arrested after the renewed violence.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin summoned eight key ministers and a top Muslim official to his offices on Saturday as he sought to chart an end to the violence. The violence is seen as the expression of pent-up anger by youths, many Muslims of North African and black African origin, at police treatment, racism, unemployment and their marginal place in French society.
In Saturday night’s rioting, the Interior Ministry says 480 cars had been gutted across France, with about 190 in the Paris region and 290 in the rest of the country.
A number of public and commercial buildings have been targeted. In Evreux in Normandy, a mall has been set on fire, burning more than 50 vehicles while a post office and two schools have also been set alight.
On Friday night, rioters had burnt almost 900 vehicles in the Paris region and large provincial cities like Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Pau, Rennes, Toulouse and Lille.