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| French PM Dominique de
Villepin(R),French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy(Middle) and
Housing Minister Jean Louis Borloo attend a meeting held in Paris, France
Nov. 3, 2005. (Xinhua/AFP) |
PARIS, Nov. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told
the Senate on Thursday after seven straight nights of violence in Paris suburbs
that the state would not give in and that "order and justice will be the final
word".
The French government gives priority to the return of
calm and restoration of public order, said Villepin, vowing that the republic
"will not give in".
"Order and justice will be the final word," he said.
He acknowledged that people living in high-immigrant
areas need security, recognition, hope, respect and future and promised to
further help the teachers, police officers, public service agents in these areas
and help the youth who apply for formation and job.
He also said that the clashes, in which hundreds of
cars have been torched, a police station wrecked and live bullets fired at
officers, were "unacceptable" and that restoring order was the government's
"absolute top priority".
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(Xinhua/AFP) | According to Paris
police, four gunshots were fired on Wednesday night, which had missed their
targets. The police fired rubber bullets when they felt threatened by advancing
mobs and nine people were injured in the clashes, they said.
Overnight Wednesday, more than 1,300 police wielding
shields and teargas grenades battled youths in at least nine suburbs, and at
least 315 cars went up in flames in dozens of towns to the north, east, west and
south of Paris as well as a commercial center was vandalized, a fire service
spokesman said.
The violence first started on Thursday night in
Clichy-sous-Bois in northeast Paris, an area which is home to many Muslim
immigrants from North Africa.
Two local teenagers, 15 and 17, were accidentally
electrocuted Thursday while they were trying to run away from police. The
incident has sparked fresh waves of violent protests in areas around Paris.
French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday called
for calm amid rising violence, while Villepin and Interior Minister Nicolas
Sarkozy canceled their trips to other countries. Enditem
Related photos>>
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| A fireman tries to extinguish a school room which was set on fire in the city of Le Blanc-Mesnil, a Paris suburb November 4, 2005. (Xinhua/AFP) |
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(Xinhua/AFP) |
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