Urban Unrest Escalates in France as Riots Continue for 11th Straight Night

Urban unrest escalated around France this weekend as youths continued rioting throughout the country for an eleventh straight night. On Sunday, rioters opened fire on police in a working-class suburb of Paris, wounding ten officers. On Saturday night, rioting spread from the Paris suburbs into the more well-off districts. Also on Saturday, the rioting reached inside the French capital for the first time, with youths setting fire to more than 30 cars in central Paris. There were also reports of unrest in the cities of Cannes, Nice, Marseille, Lille and Strasbourg. By Sunday, 3,300 cars had been destroyed throughout the country, along with dozens of public buildings and private businesses. More than 300 people have been detained.

The New York Times reports the unrest is one of the most serious challenges to governmental authority in France in nearly 40 years. Many politicians have warned that the unrest may be coalescing into an organized movement, citing Internet chatter that is urging other poor neighborhoods across France to join in.

The violence started October 27 following the deaths of two teenagers - one of Mauritanian origin and the other of Tunisian origin - in the poor area of Clichy-sous-Bois. The two teens were electrocuted in a power grid while fleeing from police. The suburbs are home to a large West African and North African community, plagued by chronic unemployment and poverty. Unemployment in the neighborhoods is double and sometimes triple the 10 percent national average, while incomes are about 40 percent lower. France is home to the largest immigrant community in Europe, which makes up 10 percent of its 60 million population.

One of France's largest Muslim organizations issued a fatwa condemning the violence saying, "It is strictly forbidden for any Muslim... to take part in any action that strikes blindly at private or public property or that could threaten the lives of others."

Meanwhile, the French government has come under increasing fire for its handling of the situation. Opposition parties have called for Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy to resign after calling the rioters "scum" last week. And French president Jacques Chirac was roundly criticized for not speak publicly about the unrest until yesterday after an emergency meeting with top members of his cabinet.

* Jacques Chirac, French President, November 6, 2005.
* Nicolas Sarkozy, French Interior Minister, November 6, 2005.

We go to Paris to get a report from the ground.

* Peter Ford, reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, speaking from Paris, France.

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