French President Emmanuel Macron has left the EU summit in Brussels and canceled his press conference as he is heading to a government meeting on the ongoing unrest in France, media reported on Friday.
Macron is expected to lead a meeting of the interdepartmental crisis group on the situation in the country, according to media reports.
The French president will hold another meeting of a government crisis group on Friday to discuss the mass protests that erupted across the country after a teenager was shot dead by a police officer, French media reported, citing the Elysee Palace.
The meeting is expected to take place at 1 p.m. Paris time (11:00 GMT), a French broadcaster reported, adding that Macron would probably have to cut short his trip to the EU summit in Brussels so as to take part in the emergency meeting.
On Thursday, the French president also convened a crisis meeting with senior cabinet members over riots in the country.
The French authorities do not exclude the introduction of a state of mergency due to the unrest after police shot dead a 17-year-old teenager during a traffic stop, this is one of the hypothetical options, French Minister Delegate for the City and Housing Olivier Klein said on Friday.
"Today everything is on the table, nothing can be rejected," Klein was quoted as saying by media broadcaster, when asked about the introduction of a state of emergency.
The first hypothetical option is to mobilize the forces of the adult population to restore order, the official added.
More than 660 people have been detained in France overnight as a result of violent protests, which erupted after police shot dead a 17-year-old teenager during a traffic stop, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Friday.
"Last night, our police, gendarmes and firefighters bravely faced rare violence. Following my instructions to take decisive action, 667 arrests were made," the minister wrote on Twitter.
Previous reports indicated that over 400 people had been detained during the protests.
Protesters broke windows and set fire to the office of the Credit Mutuel bank in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, a Sputnik correspondent reported. The French authorities sent special police forces to the site to deal with the demonstrators. The forces are also using helicopters to monitor the situation in the city.
The French capital has also been damaged, with the rioters looting at least two stores, including a Nike boutique, French newspaper Le Figaro reported, citing police sources. In the city of Nantes, the protesters also tried to ram a Lidl supermarket using a car, the report said.
Moreover, in the city of Grenoble, demonstrators fired pyrotechnic devices at several buses, forcing employees to stop the operation of public transport, French media reported.
To deal with the protests in the Old Port of Marseille, the police were forced to use tear gas, dispersing not only the rioters, but tourists as well.
The authorities of the southeast-central French region of Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes decided introduce a number of restrictive measures to ensure public safety amid the ongoing unrest.
"Measures have been taken from this evening and for the next few days to guarantee public safety and tranquility," the local authorities said on social media.
Nahel M., a 17-year-old French teenager, was shot dead in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday morning after he refused to comply with police instructions during a traffic stop. Media reported that the teenager had been driving a rental car without a driver's license and broke several traffic rules. The incident sparked protests across France, with over 660 people already detained as of Friday morning.
French authorities have called on the protesters to calm down, adding that the incident would be investigated in a just and proper manner. Macron said on Thursday that the shooting was "inexplicable and inexcusable," but also slammed the violent protests in the country as "unjustifiable" and called for calm.
No comments:
Post a Comment