French President Jacques Chirac called on Thursday for a swift response to problems faced by residents of riot-torn suburbs and a police chief said he feared the rioters were planning violent protests in central Paris.
Violence in urban areas around France fell for the third straight night following the adoption of emergency powers that allowed local officials to impose night curfews on youths behind two weeks of unrest over racism, poverty and unemployment.
But Chirac, who is under fire for saying too little during the crisis, said the government must do more to ensure all citizens receive equal treatment.
"We will have to draw all the consequences from this crisis, once the time comes and order has been restored, and with a lot of courage and lucidity," Chirac said after talks with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
CARS SET ABLAZE IN BELGIUM Youths set fire to 15 vehicles across Belgium in a fourth night of attacks that authorities said looked like imitations of violence in France, leading the far right to call for the expulsion of the perpetrators. Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt told Reuters in Singapore the burning of cars in Belgian cities were "isolated incidents" and said they was not comparable to the riots in France, which he described as a "very serious, serious situation".
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