French Police Face 'Permanent Intifada'

On a routine call, three unwitting police officers fell into a trap. A car darted out to block their path, and dozens of hooded youths attacked them with stones, bats, and tear gas before fleeing. The ambush was emblematic of what some officers say has become a near-perpetual and increasingly violent conflict between police and gangs in tough, largely immigrant French neighborhoods that were the scene of three weeks of rioting last year. One police union claims officers are facing a "permanent intifada." Michel Thooris, head of the small Action Police union, claims that the new violence is taking on an Islamic fundamentalist tinge. "Many youths, many arsonists, many vandals behind the violence do it to cries of 'Allah Akbar' (God is Great) when our police cars are stoned," he said in an interview.