More riots after Sarkozy win

2007-05-08 15:04

Paris - Youths fought police and burned cars in cities across France for a second night after Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential victory, prompting the leader of the defeated Socialists to appeal on Tuesday for calm.

Some 500 youths shouting "Sarko, fascist!" went on a rampage in the Bastille district of eastern Paris on Monday night, burning 10 cars, looting two stores including a supermarket and smashing windows, police said.

A total of 218 people were detained during four hours of clashes in which protesters threw stones and other projectiles at police, one of whom was injured. Fifteen people remained in custody on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, anti-Sarkozy protests turned violent overnight in France's second city of Lyon, as well as Lille, Toulouse, Nantes and Rennes, but no incident was reported during demonstrations in the smaller cities of Caen and Tours.

More than 500 cars were set alight in cities and suburbs across the country, according to police reports gathered by AFP, many more than the 70 to 100 vehicles that are attacked on an average night.

Appeal for calm

Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande appealed for calm, warning that the violence could trigger a heavy police clampdown.

"Those who are waging this violence are playing into the hands of those who want more order, who want to be tougher," he told RTL radio. "There can be disappointment, anger, frustration, but the only way to respond is at the ballot box. There is no other way."

Sarkozy, a tough-talking former interior minister, is hated in the high-immigrant suburbs for calling young delinquents "rabble" and for his stance on law and order.

It was under his watch that the suburbs exploded into riots for three weeks in October and November 2005, in which hundreds of buildings were burned and thousands of cars torched across the country.

Sarkozy on Monday left France for Malta where he was taking some time to recover from the hectic campaign before taking over from Jacques Chirac on May 16.

- AFP