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| A policeman patrols the northern Paris
suburb. (Xinhua/AFP photo) |
PARIS, Nov. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- The violence which has plagued the Paris suburbs
since Thursday spread to several other departments ringing the French capital
overnight, with many cars set ablaze, French authorities said Wednesday.
According to Paris police officials, many cars have
been set ablaze in cities of the five satellite departments ringing Paris
overnight. Throughout the Seine-Saint-Denis area, some 60 vehicles have been
torched.
In Sevran and Aulnay-sous-Bois, young people threw
rocks at police besides setting cars on fire, while police fired flaring shots
in return on Tuesday, officials said.
Police have also reported sporadic incidents
involving "very mobile" groups of youths in Val-d'Oise to the north of the
capital, Seine-et-Marne to the southeast, and Hauts-de-Seine and Yvelines to the
northeast.
More than 150 fires have been reported overnight,
most of which were caused by burning cars and garbage cans, according to the
police.
Many Parisians believe the troubles were triggered by
the deaths of two teenagers in Clichy-sous-Bois on Thursday. The boys were
electrocuted in a power substation where they hid to escape police officers who
they thought were chasing them. A third boy was injured but survived.
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(Xinhua/AFP phhoto) | Unrest
followed as hundreds of angry young people took to the streets, setting garbage
cans and cars ablaze and clashing with police. They also organized large-scale
demonstrations in the following days against the police and the authority.
Clichy-sous-Bois is in the suburbs that ring France's
big cities and home to immigrants often from Muslim North Africa. Its soaring
unemployment and alleged discrimination against these immigrants have aroused
great dissatisfaction.
Local people are blaming the tension on the police's
rough ways in pursuing suspects and dealing with the unrest, saying they smack
of racial discrimination.
On Sunday night, a tear gas grenade believed by the
locals to be thrown by police landed in the Clichy-sous-Bois mosque, arousing
more anger and resulting in arrests.
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| Riot police officers patrol in Paris
suburb, Aulnay-sous-Bois, early Thursday, Nov. 3, 2005. (Xinhua/AFP
photo) | In a bid to end the rioting, Prime
Minister Dominique de Villepin met Tuesday night with the parents of the three
boys and ordered a thorough investigation into the matter, while calling on
people to stay calm.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy went to
Clichy-sous-Bois on Tuesday to discuss a solution to the current unrest.
Despite these efforts, violence continued in other
cities in the province and other suburb provinces around Paris.
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