Chirac vows order as French riots spread

President Jacques Chirac yesterday vowed to restore order in France after riots in Paris spread across the country and began to unnerve his European neighbours.

"The Republic is quite determined, by definition, to be stronger than those who want to sow violence or fear," Mr Chirac said after a special domestic security council met to respond to the latest violence in which 1,300 vehicles went up in flames.

"The law must have the last word," Mr Chirac said in his first public comments since the riots started in the poor suburbs, noting the importance of the respect of all, the law and the equality of chances.

Signs of a fresh wave of violence emerged yesterday evening when youths seized a bus in Saint-Etienne, in southern France, ordering passengers to get off and then torching the vehicle.

The driver and one passenger were hurt, officials said.

In Rouen, in the north, rioters pushed a burning car against a police building. No one was hurt, police said. Cars were also burned in the cities of Nantes, Rennes and Orleans, media said.

Mr Chirac's government is struggling to cope with an explosion of unrest with complex social, economic and racial causes.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said the government would step up security wherever necessary. Some 2,300 extra officers have already been drafted in.

"We cannot accept any 'no-go' areas," Mr Villepin said after meeting Mr Chirac, adding he would announce his plans for the country's underprivileged suburbs on national television today.

Rioting began 10 days ago with the accidental electrocution of two youths apparently fleeing police. Their deaths ignited frustration among ethnic minorities over racism, unemployment, police treatment and their marginal place in French society.

"This is too much, stop!" sobbed a woman in Evreux, a normally quiet town in rural Normandy where a shopping mall, 50 vehicles, a post office and two schools were destroyed.

Across France, 1,300 vehicles went up in flames overnight. For the first time, more than 30 were destroyed inside the city walls of Paris. Previously quiet towns such as Dreux, to the west, and the city of Nantes were also affected.

Police said 349 people had been arrested, including six youths caught stockpiling 90 Molotov cocktails in a disused police building south of Paris.

Despite the worst destruction since the riots started, a police spokesman called for a sense of proportion: "It's 211 districts out of 36,000, so France is not burning."

Authorities say drug traffickers and Islamist militants are helping to organise the unrest, via the internet and mobile phones, among the North and sub-Saharan African immigrant communities who make up a significant part of many suburban housing estates.

The violence has tarnished France's image abroad, forcing Mr Villepin to cancel a trip to Canada, while Russia and the United States have warned their citizens to avoid troubled suburbs.

Neighbouring Germany, too, has a large immigrant population, including over three million Muslims - most of Turkish origin.

Wolfgang Bosbach, deputy leader of the conservative Christian Democrats in Parliament, said Germany should be under no illusion that similar events could happen there too.