French youths clash with police

By Guest Column —— Bio and Archives June 16, 2008

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Lille - Dozens of French youths clashed with police in a town in northeast France overnight, burning cars during a rampage triggered by the killing of a 22-year-old man, an official said on Sunday.

Two police officers, two firefighters and five residents suffered minor injuries during the violence that raged until Sunday morning in Vitry-le-Francois, said Sylvaine Astic from the regional prefect's office. Armed with baseball bats and firebombs, about 50 youths went on a rampage, torching cars and setting fire to garbage bins in the town of 17 000 people, Astic told AFP. The violence started around 22:00 (20:00 GMT) after the 22-year-old man was gunned down in Vitry-le-Francois. A suspect was arrested overnight. About 60 police officers were dispatched to the town late on Saturday and remained in Vitry-le-Francois on Sunday. A police union issued a statement denouncing what it termed as "hysteria" in relations between French youth and police. "This started out as a murderous settling of scores," said Nicolas Comte of the SGP-FO police union. "But quickly this tragic event prompted a violent group to attack police with baseball bats and molotov cocktails as young bystanders watched passively, like spectators to the 'riot show'," said Comte. More...