FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER SENDS EXTRA RIOT POLICE
TO MARSEILLE AFTER TEENS TORCH BUS*

MARSEILLE October 29, 2006 (IHT/AP) - France's interior minister sent extra riot police to patrol the southern port city of Marseille on Sunday after a group of marauding teenagers torched a bus, seriously burning a young passenger.

... In scattered violence Saturday, 46 people were taken into custody, most of them in the suburbs around Paris, and two police officers were slightly injured. The most serious violence was the bus attack in Marseille, which shocked France with its brutality.

Three or four young people burst onto the bus and tossed in a bottle of flammable liquid before fleeing, police said, citing witnesses' accounts. A fire started, seriously injuring a 26-year-old woman who suffered second- and third-degree burns on her arms, legs and face.

The woman was breathing Sunday with help from a respirator, the Marseille hospital system said. Doctors were deeply worried about lung damage from smoke. Three other people also were treated for smoke inhalation, police said. The bus was destroyed, and bus service was suspended in Marseille.

... For the anniversary [of last year's riots], national police said about 4,000 extra police and riot officers were deployed across the country to cope with a possible resurgence of violence. Some 7,000 police are at the ready on an average night in France, and bands of youths typically set fire to 100 cars a night.

BIGGER TARGETS
Same Mysterious Assailants

UNE JEUNE FEMME GRIÈVEMENT BRÛLÉE
APRÈS L’ATTAQUE D’UN BUS*
[A YOUNG WOMAN GRIEVOUSLY BURNT AFTER BUS ATTACK]

29 octobre 2006 (Figaro/AP/AFP) - Une jeune femme de 26 ans est entre la vie et la mort, grièvement brûlée samedi soir dans l'incendie d'un bus. Pour le procureur de la cité phocéenne, le véhicule est tombé dans un véritable «guet-apens». Les chauffeurs ont décidé dimanche matin d’exercer leur droit de retrait.

C’est la première victime grave de violences perpétrées autour de l'anniversaire redouté de la première nuit d'émeutes en 2005. Une jeune femme a été grièvement brûlée suite à l'incendie d'un autobus attaqué par un groupe d'adolescents dans les quartiers nord de Marseille. Elle a été brûlée à "près de 70% de la surface du corps" et "le pronostic vital est engagé", a indiqué l'Assistance publique des hôpitaux de Marseille (APHM). Si elle s'en sort, elle devrait garder une infirmité permanente, a précisé le procureur de la République, Jacques Beaume, selon qui les auteurs sont passibles de 30 ans de réclusion criminelle. Trois autres personnes indisposées par les fumées ont également été conduites à l’hôpital.

... Depuis une semaine, au moins sept autobus ont été incendiés dans des banlieues de grandes villes, dont six en région parisienne, par des groupes de personnes encagoulées et parfois armées. Même si le pire à parfois été frôlé comme dans l'Essonne où un bus était plein au moment où le feu a pris, il n'y a pas eu de blessés graves.

A 26 year-old woman is between life and death, seriously burned Saturday evening in a bus torching. According to the prosecutor of Marseille, the vehicle fell into a vertiable "ambush". Bus drivers decided Sunday morning to exercise their right of withdrawal [i.e., to strike].

It is the first serious victim of violence perpetrated around the dreaded anniversary of the first night of riots in 2005. A young woman was seriously burned following the torching of a bus by a group of teenagers in the districts north of Marseille. She was burned over "nearly 70% of the body surface" and "the prognosis is critical", Public Assistance for Marseille Hospitals (APHM) has indicated. If she pulls through, she will probably have a permanent disability, stated the public prosecutor, Jacques Beaume, subjecting the perpetrators to 30 years imprisonment. Three other people indisposed by the smoke were also brought to the hospital.

... For the past week, at least seven buses have been torched in the suburbs of large cities, including six in the Paris area, by groups of hooded and sometimes armed persons. Even though the worst was very close at times, as in Essonne where a bus was full when torched, there had not been serious injuries.

* Absolutely no delinquent Muslims or maghrébins sighted during the writing of this report.

PFFT (What is this?): The riot season is open 3 | Rayonnement français 0