French press review 16 April 2010

Fresh problems in the Parisian suburbs and the cloud of ash that’s brought European air travel to a near standstill are covered in depth today, while Libération focuses on the return of Mohamed el-Baradei to Egypt.

Le Monde reports that there has been a strong rise in the number of drug seizures in the banlieues this year as Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux promises an all-out war against dealers in the capital’s suburbs.

According to the centrist daily, if the current trend continues the level of cannabis seizures could rival the 107 tonnes or 500 million euros-worth that was confiscated in 2004.

There have already been a number of high-profile police raids on drug-dealing networks this year. One such operation targeted the north-eastern suburb of Tremblay-en-France, in which cannabis worth an estimated one million euros was discovered.

Since the latest crackdown there have been increased tensions in the suburbs, particularly in Tremblay-en-France, where a bus was burnt soon after the raid.

Stones were thrown at three other buses recently and Le Parisien says another bus was targeted on Thursday night despite the fact it had a police escort.

Bus services have been severely disrupted since the latest trouble began. Passengers – many of whom are struggling through the recession – say they feel that the whole community is being punished for the actions of a few disillusioned youth.

Elsewhere, Le Parisien, Le Figaro and Libération all carry front-page photos of the volcanic ash clowd that has “paralysed Europe.”

The ash, which resulted from the eruption of a volcano under a glacier in Iceland, has caused chaos for flight schedules in the north of the continent. Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands all closed their airspace on Thursday. Here in France, 25 airports were shut and all Air France flights in and out of Paris were cancelled this morning.

Left-leaning Libé devotes two pages to news from Egypt, where the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed el-Baradei has recently returned.

Hosni Mubarek has been in power since 1981 but speculation is growing that el-Baradei, who won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, could run in presidential elections that are due to take place in September next year.

However, the vastly-experienced diplomat, who was head of the IAEA for 12 years, says he won’t consider running until the country’s constitution is changed. Libé says it effectively bars any independent candidate from running for election unless they’ve been given the seal of approval by the government.

El-Baradei has already set up the non-political party movement, the National Association for Change, which is pushing for political reforms.

Government-led critics of el-Baradei accuse him of being “a pawn” of foreign powers and out of touch with a country he hasn’t lived in for the past 30 years.