Fight back
August 10, 2011
Prime Minister David Cameron promised to take every action necessary Wednesday to return order to the streets after a fourth night of rioting struck cites across England.
"We needed a fightback and the fightback has begun," Cameron told a news conference after the second meeting of Britain's COBRA security committee in as many days.
"Nothing is off the table," he added, outlining contingency plans for the use of water cannons at 24 hours notice. Their use would be the first ever on the British mainland. Baton rounds of plastic bullets have already made available.
Cameron's pledge to crack down on what he described as "despicable violence" followed another night of intense rioting, this time in cities including Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.
The focus of Tuesday's violence was in Greater Manchester where groups of youths clashed with police. Manchester's Arndale shopping center was a major target of looters. In Salford, cars and buildings were torched and police were attacked with missiles. Some 115 youths were arrested in and around the city.
Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan of Greater Manchester Police described the scenes as "senseless violence and senseless criminality on a scale I have never witnessed before."
Violence spreading
In Birmingham, three Asian men were killed after they were hit by a speeding car during the rioting.
Witnesses said the men had just come out of a mosque and were protecting their local shops after a car was set alight nearby.
"The car swerved towards them. It was cold-blooded murder," a friend of the men told BBC radio. Police have launched a murder inquiry into the incident.
Some 80 people were arrested in Birmingham as reports emerged of looting and arson in the neighboring towns of West Bromwich and Wolverhampton. In Nottingham, a group of 30 to 40 males firebombed a police station.
London itself was largely quiet after an extra 10,000 police officers were deployed on Tuesday to stave off a fourth night of rioting and looting. The boost brought the number of police on the streets to 16,000, most of whom are expected to be out in force again on Wednesday night.
"Tonight we are going to plan for the worst again, that is what London deserves," Stephen Kavanagh, deputy assistant commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, told BBC radio
Hunting the perpetrators
In recent days Britain's capital has endured some of the worst rioting in decades. The unrest claimed its first fatality in the city on Tuesday when a man died from his injuries after being shot in the southern area of Croydon.
More than 1,100 people across the country have been arrested for violence, disorder and looting since riots erupted on Saturday in the north London district of Tottenham after the shooting death of a man by police. Police are currently in the process of arresting additional suspects based on CCTV images.
Prime Minister David Cameron has recalled Parliament, a rare occurrence, to debate the violence on Thursday.
The chaotic scenes have raised questions about London's readiness to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. In response to the rioting, England's Football Association has cancelled an international soccer friendly scheduled to be played against the Netherlands at Wembley Arena on Wednesday evening.
Author: Charlotte Chelsom-Pill (dpa, AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler