Wednesday, March 28, 2007

DOZENS RIOT IN PARIS RAIL STATION !

Violence spilled out of the station and on to nearby streets. Nine people have been arrested and two hurt after an argument over a ticket in a Paris metro station sparked riots.
Police used tear gas to disperse up to 100 youths at the Gare du Nord, one of paris' busiest stations.
Rioters smashed windows and attacked vending machines and shops, after objecting to the treatment of a man arrested for jumping a ticket barrier.
Interior Minister Francois Baroin labelled the events "unacceptable, intolerable violence".
"Nothing justifies what happened last night," he said.
Chanting sloguns
France saw its most severe riots for decades in autumn 2005 amid simmering tensions in suburbs with large immigrant populations. Presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, who was interior minister at the time, caused controversy when he labelled the 2005 rioters "scum".
The youths who gathered in the Gare du Nord on Tuesday shouted insults about Mr Sarkozy.
They also chanted slogans of "police are everywhere, justice is nowhere" and "down with the state, police and bosses".
Officers took until midnight to clear rioters from the subway station's main hall.
Growing crowd
Meanwhile, tourists and commuters at the station - one of Paris's major transport hubs incorporating the Eurostar terminal - tiptoed through smashed glass and overturned rubbish bins.
The violence was sparked when a 33-year-old man without a ticket jumped over a barrier.
Transport officials said the man punched two ticket inspectors who asked for his ticket as part of a routine inspection. He was eventually arrested by police.
But a growing crowd felt that the police had used excessive force to arrest the man, and their protest turned violent.
The riots spilled out into nearby streets, where rubbish bins and street signs were set on fire.
BBC NEWS REPORT.

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