Violence Returns To Paris Suburbs

(CBS/AP)  A band of youths, some wearing masks, forced passengers out of a bus in a southern Paris suburb in broad daylight, set it afire then stoned firefighters who came to the rescue, a police official said.

Police cordoned off the neighborhood in Grigny, in the Essonne region, following the bus attack Sunday, which came five days before France marks the one-year anniversary of the start of three weeks of fiery riots by poor suburban youths.

District police chief Jean-Francois Papineau called Sunday's bus attack "deliberate." He said a vehicle was set afire at about 2 p.m. and used as a road block that forced the bus to stop. Two youths then entered the back of the bus to clear out passengers before dousing it with gasoline and setting it ablaze.

The blaze, which left the bus a tangled carcass of metal, spread to four parked cars, Papineau told LCI television.

When firefighters arrived, the youths, some masked, began stoning them, he said. No one was injured. Two people were arrested, one of them a 13-year-old, according to LCI.

The local prefecture said that nearly 30 youths were involved in the incident. LCI reported that about 50 youths, some carrying iron bars, were involved.

Meanwhile, France's minister for social cohesion, Jean-Louis Borloo, called on citizens to act responsibly because "tensions are raw just as we're in the process of resolving the difficulties."

The daylight bus-burning evoked memories of the riots. It followed nearly a half-dozen incidents in recent weeks in which suburban youths have attacked police officers, in some cases in planned ambushes. Such clashes have raised tensions ahead of Friday's anniversary of the start of the riots.

Police secured the Grande Borne neighborhood of Grigny, the local government said, adding that order was quickly restored.

The riots last year laid bare rampant discrimination in the housing projects surrounding France's big cities where numerous French of immigrant origin live, separated from mainstream life.

On Saturday, five people were placed under investigation for attempted murder in relation to an Oct. 13 ambush in the town of Epinay-sur-Seine, north of Paris, in which police were lured to a housing project then attacked by about 30 youths. One officer hit by a rock required 30 stitches to the face.

The government has since provided funds and enacted numerous measures in a bid to reverse the situation. However, the problem remains entrenched, and there are no concrete signs that daily violence has diminished.

CBS News' Bob Albertson reports that while French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has said that there are not now any advance signs of impending riots, the French police's domestic intelligence unit, les Renseignements Generaux, put out an alarmist memo earlier this month — extracts were published in today's edition of the conservative newspaper "Le Figaro" — noting that the conditions which led to last year's riots were still very much present throughout much of the country. That same report pointed fingers at journalists who are investigating the situation in these communities — something the police claim is heightening tension: it's the usual complaint about teens trashing and bashing for the evening news cameras.

Officials and analysts have said over the last couple of days that little, if anything has been done in the communities affected by last fall's rioting. And, in an eerie replay of the run-up to the 1968 riots here when then President De Gaulle was traveling in Rumania and his prime minister was in Afghanistan, French President Jacques Chirac travels to China October 25-27, Albertson added.

Borloo, the social cohesion minister, said it could take three or four years to see concrete results from the efforts his government has put in place.

Speaking on Europe-1 radio, he called on "parents, associations, mayors, all (those involved)" in the suburbs to "act responsibly" to avoid a new explosion.

"Authority is clearly needed but we also need dialogue and respect, much more than we had in those neighborhoods," he said.

[monceau1]

bellaL -

It is sad, isn't it ? In my American education, I hardly learned anything about it at all until my 2nd year of college. Here in France, it seems that everyone with a high school diploma (a French one, I mean) has a decent global knowledge of North American history ever since colonialisation began.

Maybe you remember that Bill Gates recently pointed out on Oprah (as little Oprah as I watch) that American high schools are in a crises and don't hold their own against Canadian, European and some Asiatic public schools. It's incredible how the U.S. is home to some of the best universities, and at the same time one of the worst public school systems in the 1st world.

[bellal-2009]

Monceau1, we don't learn much about the Revolutionary War here in America anymore. You probably learned more about it in school in France than American kids. It's sad.

[monceau1]

namandaman -

Yes, it deportation has been considered for those caught by the police, but of course only for those who were in France illegally. Several thousand other "sans-papiers" (illegal residents) are scheduled for deportation very soon, but many of them have applied to stay in France as citizend, and their dossiers are being reviewed by the government.

The government tries to be as fair as possible, despite any race bias that may exist among the French people. I think many Americans will be suprised to know that in France it is illegal to collect information regarding races. That is to say, the government will never ask your race on a tax form, an a census, or any other sort of poll. This is part of an effort to make the government "color-blind," meaning that they see only people and not races.

[namandaman]

Thanks for the reply, monceau1. I am not a policy expert either, but maybe the French should seriously consider the threat of deportation for the worst of the troublemakers, plus removal of citizenship. Maybe these scalawags need to experience life in their mother countries for a while to appreciate life in Europe.

[monceau1]

If it weren't for France, the U.S. would be speaking...well, they would be speaking English ! (I'm alluding to the American Revolution which everyone seems to have forgotten - you know, the war that made the U.S. a country in the first place)

[cathaleen]

It's too bad Europeans get an attitude toward the US. If it wasn't for us they would all be doing the goose step and saying Heil! They should be thankful for the all the money we spent rebuilding
Europe.

[politikz]

I had the opportunity to live in France six years ago, and the way minorities were treated there was awful. The citizens of Arabic descent, especially Morroccans, got the worst of it. You can't keep people down and oppressed and not expect something like this to occur. Actually, this does remind me of the riots that took place during the sixties. I think alot of the wealthy nations need criticizing third world countries so much about human rights and take a good, long look at themselves!!

[monceau1]

mjv2944 -

France is actually the most fecund nation in Western Europe - their population is expected to augment by 25% within the next 50 years, making them the largest nation in Europe. Immigration has been greatly reduced in the last few years, with much more care being taken to award residency to those who show high potential. Yes, I do live in France at the moment, and I am American. Please educate yourself before making any more loosely strung together posts on this forum - we would all appreciate it.

[lily_ayanami]

I think what's going on in France is a warning sign to the U.S., regarding our own immigrant populations. Granted that France is probably more resistant to immigrant populations (France: hundreds of years of history and cultural identity. U.S.: nation of immigrants and ever-changing cultural identity), this could easily happen in the U.S. if we're not careful about our own immigrants. Actually, these riots make me think about the race riots in the '60s.

[mjv2944]

Monceau1

With current immigration policies and low birth rates among western European nation, they'll be Ialamic nations in 10 to 15 years, if they don't change their policies.