French Toasted

RIOTING

The number of cars set ablaze by rioters rose slightly again on Friday night, and two fire bombs were thrown at a mosque in southern France, damaging the entrance.

Some 500 vehicles were set ablaze across France, compared to 463 the previous night, and unrest hit areas including Strasbourg, Marseille, Lyon and Lille. But there were fewer incidents of violence in the Paris suburbs, police said.

"We've gone back to an almost normal situation in Ile de France (greater Paris region)," national police chief Michel Gaudin told reporters.

The Paris ban on large gatherings went into force at 10 a.m. (0900 GMT) and was due to run until 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Sunday. The heart of the city has largely escaped the violence that has plagued impoverished neighbourhoods just outside the city.

Three thousand extra police were brought into Paris on Friday, the Armistice holiday marking the end of World War One.

The unrest was triggered by the accidental deaths of two youths who were electrocuted on October 27 as they hid in a power substation just north of Paris while apparently fleeing police. It later spread to other cities and towns across France.

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Editorial by me: So the French enact a curfew to try to stop this violence, expecting that the people fighting police, looting, firebombing, and generally being law-breakers, are suddenly going to not break this law? Does this make sense to anyone? If I were one of these rioters, why would I stop doing my thing, just because they added a new law to which I am violating. Someone very wise once said, "A lock will only stop an honest man."

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