Paris, France, Nov 17, 2005 / 22:00 pm
French president Jacques Chirac has condemned the burning of a church in the Parisian suburb of Romans, calling it an “unacceptable act” of “intolerable aggression.”
This was the latest in the wave of violence that has swept the country, including attacks on three mosques. Rioters set fire to the church using some type of explosive device. The local mayor, Henri Bertholet, called the act “the work of the insane.” France’s Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, had harsh words for those who “attack the symbols of all religions in France.”
Police officers said the church was partially destroyed, with classrooms and part of the nave of the church being the areas most affected.