06 Nov 2005 00:17:36 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Astrid Wendlandt
PARIS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Two schools were burnt down in Paris and hundreds of cars set on fire in cities across France in a tenth night of rioting in poor suburban areas that went into the early hours of Sunday, the Interior Ministry said.
The schools were set ablaze in the Paris suburb of Essonne, but no one was reported hurt in the weekend attack. About 68 people had been arrested after the renewed violence as of late on Saturday, the ministry said.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin summoned eight key ministers and a top Muslim official to his offices on Saturday as he sought to chart an end to the violence.
The violence has been seen as the expression of pent-up anger by youths, many Muslims of North African and black African origin, at police treatment, racism, unemployment and their marginal place in French society.
In Saturday night's rioting, the Interior Ministry said about 480 cars had been gutted across France, with about 190 in the Paris region and 290 in the rest of the country.
A number of public and commercial buildings were targeted, authorities said. In Evreux in Normandy, a mall was set on fire, burning down more than 50 vehicles while a post office and two schools were also set alight.
On Friday night, rioters had burnt almost 900 vehicles in the Paris region and large provincial cities like Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Pau, Rennes, Toulouse and Lille, the highest total since unrest sparked by the deaths of two youths apparently fleeing police.
"Violence is not a solution," Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, accused of stoking passions by calling troublemakers "scum", told reporters after the Villepin meeting.
"Once the crisis is over, everyone will have to understand there are a certain number of injustices in some neighbourhoods. We are trying to be firm and avoid any provocation. We have to avoid any risk of explosion," he said.
ACRID SMOKE
After nine nights of wailing sirens, acrid smoke, stone-throwing and destruction, residents from all ethnic backgrounds are tiring of the unrest.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said the government had called in reinforcements for police and fire services.
In Aulnay-sous-Bois, a rundown suburb of 80,000 inhabitants northeast of Paris, several thousand residents, some singing the national anthem, marched past burnt out vehicles behind a "No To Violence, Yes To Dialogue" banner.
"It's a sign that the laws of the republic apply to everyone and that we will not give in to violence," said Mayor Gerard Gaudron, a member of the governing UMP party.
Police had arrested 258 people on Friday night.
As France struggled to understand the turmoil, a cafe owner in Aulnay-sous-Bois, had a simple explanation: "It's a game. The kids are out there because all they want to do is trash stuff."
The U.S. embassy in Paris has advised its citizens to avoid some Paris suburbs including Seine-Saint-Denis and Trappes.
Villepin, who cancelled a visit to Canada to tackle the violence, met residents from troubled neighbourhoods late on Friday as part of efforts to start a dialogue. He is to publish an action plan for 750 tough districts by the end of the month.
The drawn-out crisis could yet hurt his political fortunes and those of Sarkozy, his rival to lead the right in 2007 presidential elections.
Sarkozy has courted Muslim opinion by urging a measure of positive discrimination and setting up a Council of Muslim Faith to represent France's 5 million-strong Muslim community.
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