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Britsh gov't planning 'fightback'

Published:Thursday | August 11, 2011 | 12:00 AM
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Riot police patrol Manchester city centre after trouble on Market street in Manchester city centre, England, on Tuesday. Britain began flooding London's streets with 16,000 police officers on Tuesday, nearly tripling their presence as the nation feared its worst rioting in a generation would stretch into a fourth night. The violence has turned buildings into burnt-out carcasses, triggered massive looting and spread to other UK cities. - Ap photos
Police make an arrest during the second night of civil disturbances in central Birmingham, England.
A woman (centre) with a bystander pleads with a police officer to release her son after they detained him on Tuesday in Enfield, North London. It was not immediately clear why he was detained.
A forensic officer works at the scene where three men were killed after being hit by a car in an incident locals were linking to the violence early Wednesday in Birmingham, England.
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 LONDON (AP):

Britain's prime minister hammered out a tough line against rioters yesterday, determined to restore order and confidence on Britain's streets as extra police officers flooded the capital for a second day.

Even as Prime Minister David Cameron promised not to let a "culture of fear" take hold, tensions flared in Birmingham, where a murder probe was opened after three men were killed in a hit-and-run, reportedly as they took to the streets to deter potential rioters.

"We needed a fightback and a fightback is under way," Cameron said in a somber televised statement outside his Downing Street office after a meeting of the nation's crisis committee. As if to underline his resolve, he underlined "nothing is off the table", including water cannon, commonly used in Northern Ireland but never deployed in mainland Britain.

Arrests increasing

The number of arrests in London alone climbed to 805, with courts staffing around the clock to process alleged looters, vandals and thieves, including one as young as 11. Cameron has recalled parliament from its summer recess for an emergency debate on the riots today.

Outside the capital, in England's second largest city of Birmingham, police launched a murder investigation into the deaths of three men hit by a car. Residents said the dead men, aged 20 to 31, were members of Birmingham's South Asian communities who had been patrolling their neighbourhood to keep it safe from looters.

"They lost their lives for other people, doing the job of the police," said witness Mohammed Shakiel, 34. "They weren't standing outside a mosque, a temple, a synagogue or a church - they were standing outside shops where everybody goes. They were protecting the community."

Parliament recalled from recess, 3 killed, 805 arrested as riots continue