November 5, 2003	Wednesday	Ramazan 9, 1424

LONDON: Guy Fawkes has a lot to answer for.Bad enough that he and a posse of fellow Catholic plotters tried to blow up King James I with 36 barrels of gunpowder in the basement of London’s Houses of Parliament in a desperate bid to save England from Protestantism.

They were nabbed before they could light the fuse, and duly executed, but Nov 5, 1605, lives on as Bonfire Night when Britain comes alive after dark with Roman Candles, Catherine Wheels, Jumping Jacks and other fireworks.

It’s also a time for burglars. And hooligans. Injuries by the hundreds. Cats and dogs scared out of their wits. And this year the chance to burn US President George W. Bush in effigy.

Officially, local authorities want revellers on Wednesday to forsake backyard pyrotechnics in favor of slick fireworks spectaculars and carefully managed bonfires in neighbourhood parks.

“Play safe by going to an organised event,” urged the multicultural south London borough of Lambeth, which is organising extravaganzas in Clapham Common and other big green spaces.

But there’s little by way of law to stop people from shooting off fireworks in their backyards, or in parking lots in public housing estates — complemented by bonfires on which to burn the traitor Fawkes in effigy.

Many revellers are getting into practice. For a few weeks already, all over the country, nocturnal quiet has been shattered by youngsters firing rounds of firecrackers and streakers that go up with an irritating screech.

Last week, in the northern city of Leeds, a powerful firework, thought to be a rocket, broke through the window of a toddler’s bedroom, ricocheted off the walls, then exploded.

Olivia Attwood, 20 months, was downstairs at the time, but her teddy bear was fried, police said.

In Cambridgeshire a week earlier, shopkeeper Virginia Graves sold four teenagers two Star Blast rockets — then watched in horror as they strapped a hamster onto one of the devices, then sent the rodent sky high.—AFP