M Chirac held an emergency meeting last night with senior Cabinet members responsible for security, but violence erupted soon after it concluded.

Ten police were injured after being shot at by more than 200 rioters in Gringy, south of Paris. Cars were set alight on the streets of Nantes, Orleans, Rennes and Rouen, officers in Toulouse had to use tear gas on a mob, and youths in St Etienne forced passengers off a bus before burning it.

After the meeting with ministers, M Chirac said: “The last word must be with the law.” Those sowing “violence or fear” would be “arrested, judged and punished”. His priority was to stamp out the rampages, he said.

His first public announcement since the unrest began was designed to reassure a population that has grown outraged over the rioting by youths, mainly of Arab and African origin, who have set fire to cars, stoned police and firemen and attacked shops, schools and businesses. The unrest, previously confined to the outlying suburbs, captured the attention of the whole of France yesterday after youths in a dozen cities caused mayhem on their estates.

There were 95 arrests last night and at least 530 cars were set alight across the country. On Saturday, at least 1,300 vehicles were burnt from Lille in the North to Montpellier on the Mediterranean, including more than 30 vehicles in the Place de la République and the 17th arrondissement in Paris.

MPs in M Chirac’s Union for a Popular Movement have questioned President’s delay in speaking. François Hollande, leader of the Socialist Opposition, said that M Chirac’s entire Government was in question. The violence is widely blamed on the harsh rhetoric and tactics of Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister and UMP leader.

11 NIGHTS OF VIOLENCE
15 CITIES AFFECTED
900 ARRESTS
4000 VEHICLES BURNT
2,300 ADDITIONAL POLICE ON PATROL

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