"I do hope that France will survive"

UPDATED: Rioters 'were out to kill us', says wounded French officer

PARIS - "It felt like they were out to kill us. We knew there were weapons in the suburbs, but never turned against us like that," one of the police officers shot during youth riots near Paris told AFP Wednesday.

"We were attacked from all sides" by youths armed with hunting rifles."

"The kids were shooting at us at close range, loading and reloading their weapons. I've never seen anything like it. It was like in a movie. They were picking us off from 10 or 15 metres away."

Riots have broken out for a third night in the poor French suburbs as violence is spreading despite the heavy police presence.

Youths rampaged for a third night in the tough suburbs north of Paris and violence spread to a southern city late yesterday as police struggled to contain rioters who have burned cars and buildings and -- in an ominous turn -- shot at officers.

A senior police union official warned that "urban guerrillas" had joined the unrest, saying the violence was worse than during three weeks of rioting that raged around French cities in 2005, when firearms were rarely used. More here

Sophie, our intrepid correspondent in France, stayed up late into the night on the third straight night of Muslim rioting to file this report for us. She signed off, "Many kisses I do hope that France will survive."

Insurrection in France Sophie Fernandez Debellemanière

More than one hundred policemen got wounded in the riots that began on Friday night in Villiers-le-Bel. 99 percent were gunshot, according to a doctor from a hospital in Val-d’Oise. Thus, a police union called “Synergie” stated that today’s situation is even worse than the one during the 2005 riots. The police inspector who was beaten in the face with an iron bar, and beaten again while lying down, got his lung perforated. The police do not seem to be allowed to respond to violence: none of the rioters was wounded, as reported chief of the medical emergency team working in Villiers-le-Bel Patrick Pelloux.

Riots are now spreading all over the country. It began with other Parisian suburbs like Cergy, Ermont, Goussainville, Fosses, Argenteuil ou Sarcelles, where the youngsters burned libraries and shops. Molotov cocktails were thrown to the policemen.

It is now reaching Toulouse, southwest France, where the rioters burned two more libraries and a few dozens of cars. And in Le Havre, northwest France, there seems to be gunshot too:

 

ChicaGo Le Havre -> Affronte la BAC
Uploaded by chicag76

When Prime Minister François Fillon arrived in Villiers-le-Bel tonight, he declared that the situation was “calm but fragile”… Until now, nine people were arrested among the rioters. The youngest is 13. He was caught while trying to set fire on a municipal bus that he had stolen, without success. Two of the rioters who got arrested were already sentenced to three to ten months in prison.

France is really fed up with these war scenes taking place, whereas she has one of the best social systems in the world. The ones who are spending their nights shooting policemen are the same who ask for national cohesion when they need help. French people are now waiting for Sarkozy to “get rid of the scums, with a karcher if need be” as he promised during the presidential campaign.

Villiers-le-Bel:

As many journalists got their cameras stolen by some angry French youths, amateurs broadcast the best videos we can get:

 

Nuit de violence à Villiers-le-Bel
Uploaded by rue89

 

Nuit de violence à Villiers-le-Bel
Uploaded by rue89

UPDATE 11/29: Sarkozy vows tough line against rioters

EAUBONNE, France (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged on Wednesday to punish rioters who shot at police but sought to ease tensions with an independent probe into the deaths of two youths that triggered the unrest.

Youths in Paris suburbs and southwestern Toulouse torched several cars and rubbish bins in the third night of tension, but a heavy police clampdown in the Paris area saw a sharp drop in violence from the two previous nights.

Moments after arriving back in France from China, Sarkozy sped off to a hospital in the Eaubonne suburb of Paris where a senior police officer, attacked at the start of the violence on Sunday, was being treated for serious injuries.

Sarkozy, a law-and-order hardliner when interior minister during riots two years ago, praised the officer's courage and said nothing could justify such violence.

"Those who take it upon themselves to shoot at police will find themselves in the Assizes Court" which handles serious cases, he told reporters later.

Shooting at police "has a name -- attempted murder."

"We will find the shooters. We will put in the necessary resources ... It is not something that we can tolerate, no matter how dramatic the deaths of these two youngsters on a motorbike may be," he added.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon told parliament a heavy police presence on Tuesday night had helped restore calm: "Last night there were 1,000 police on the ground ... and we saw the results -- there was a very noticeable drop in violence."

Comments

[pastorius]

Judging by Sarkozy's word, thus far, I don't think he will be doing much to stop these riots.

Which means they will continue on til something bad happens, and then he will be forced to do something.

And likely, whatever that is, it will be be worse than if he would have nipped it in the bud.

[David M]

The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the - Web Reconnaissance for 11/28/2007 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.

[Shy Guy]

Wow, Pamela! Sophie is your very own embedded reporter!

[shmujew]

hey france....welcome to israel !

[shmujew]

disadvantaged....yeah....the only ones disadvantaged is the middle class that supports these arabs with welfare , shelter and whatever their little jew hating insane barbaric savage antediluvian brains can handle

[USpace]

"We will find the shooters. We will put in the necessary resources ..."

Why don't you just shoot the shooters? It's justified. KILL these terrorist monkeys NOW! This is shameful that Sarkozy is acting just like former President Jock 'friend of Saddam" Chirac.

To not allow the Cops to shoot back in self-defense is criminal. Every one of these violent monkey thugs shooting at cops deserves to die on the spot while committing their crimes. France will fall unless Law & Order starts acting like a sane adult.

These slabs of bacon are not peaceful protesters, they are murderers and arsonists, they should either ALL be arrested, or shot down in the streets.

Dream on, but of course if this happened, there would/will be much more violent rioting until enough of them are killed to make them get the point.

absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
let thugs burn your country

let them shoot down your cops
who must never defend themselves

absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
appease your young terrorists

just let them burn Paris down
leave them your country and GO

absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
don't KILL terrorist monkeys

they shoot cops peacefully
just good kids letting off steam

.

Thanks for the inspiration! Great post!

http://uspacehaikusenryutanka.blogspot.com/

:)
.

[Go Spencer!]

SEND IN THE FU**ING ARMY - NOW! Shoot to kill if they resist arrest.