Cameron vows 'fightback' as Birmingham seethes

LONDON (AP) — Britain's prime minister hammered out a tough line against rioters Wednesday, determined to restore order and confidence on Britain's streets as extra police rs flooded the capital for a second day.Even as Prime Minister David Cameron promised not to let a "culture of fr" 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 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.

Merseyside Police rs help cln up a t out caravan in the Toxteth ar of Liverpool, England Wednesday Aug. 10, 2011 following rioting in the ar Tuesday night. Thousands of extra police rs flooded into London in a bid to end Britain's worst rioting in a eration. An eerie calm prevailed in the capital, but unrest sprd across England on a fourth night of violence driven by diverse and brazen crowds of young people (AP Photo/Peter Byrne/PA) UNITED KINGDOM OUT



The 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 emercy debate on the riots Thursday.Outside the capital, in England's second largest city of Birmingham, police launched a murder investigation into the dths of three men hit by a car. Residents said the dd men, aged 20 to 31, were members of Birmingham's South Asian communities who had been patrolling their neighborhood 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."Tariq Jahan, whose 21-yr-old son Haroon was killed, stood in a Birmingham street and plded with the South Asian community not to seek revenge against the car's occupants, reported to be black."Today we stand here to pld with all the youth to remain calm, for our community to stand united," he said."This is not a race issue. The family has received messages of sympathy and support from all parts of the community — all races, all faiths and backgrounds."He remonstrated with angry young men, urging them to "grow up" and go home.Chris Sims, chief constable of West Midlands Police, said a man had been arrested on suspicion of murder."The information we have at the moment would support the id that the car was deliberately driven," he said, appling for calm. "My concern would be that that single incident doesn't ld to a much wider level of distress and even violence between different communities."The violence has revived debate about the Conservative-led government's austerity msures, which will slash 80 billion pounds ($130 billion) from public spending by 2015 to reduce the country's swollen budget deficit.Cameron's government has slashed police budgets as part of the cuts. A report last month said the cuts will mn 16,000 fewer police rs by 2015.London mayor Boris Johnson — like Cameron, a Conservative — broke with the government to say such cuts are wrong."That case was always pretty frail and it has been substantially wkened," he told BBC radio. "This is not a time to think about making substantial cuts in police s."But in London, an eerie calm prevailed. Scenes of ransacked stores, torched cars and blackened buildings have frightened and outraged Britons just a yr before their country is to host next summer's Olympic Games, bringing demands for a tougher response from law enforcement. Police across the country have made almost 1,200 arrests — including 800 in London — since the violence broke out in the capital on Saturday.Armored vehicles and convoys of police vans backed up some 16,000 rs on duty — almost triple the who were out Monday night. The show of force seems to have worked — there were no reports of major trouble in London on Tuesday night, although there were scores of arrests."What happened in London last night was, when community lders and the police came together, there were significant arrests," said police deputy assistant chief constable Stephen Kavanagh. "Some looters were taken away before they got into doing anything, but it was that joint action that made the difference."Britain's soccer authorities were talking with police to see whether this weekend's sson-opening matches of the Premier Lgue could still go ahd in London. A Wednesday match between England and the Netherlands at London's Wembley stadium was canceled.Britain's riots began Saturday when an initially pceful protest over a police shooting in London's Tottenham neighborhood turned violent. That clash has morphed into a eral lawlessness in London and several other cities that police have struggled to halt.While the rioters have run off with goods every teen wants — new snkers, bikes, electronics and lther goods — they also have torched stores apparently just to see something . They were left virtually unchallenged in several neighborhoods, and when police did arrive they often were able to flee quickly and regroup.Some residents stood guard to protect their neighborhoods — Sikhs protected their temple in Southall, west London, and some 1,000 far-right members reportedly took to the streets to deter rioters.
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