France must react to urban ills after riots: Chirac
French President Jacques Chirac said on Thursday the government had to respond quickly to problems residents face in riot-hit suburbs and a police chief said he feared rioters were planning protests in central Paris.
Violence in urban areas around France fell for the third straight night after emergency powers allowed local officials to impose night curfews on youths behind two weeks of unrest over racism, poverty and unemployment.
"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.
"We need to respond in a strong and quick way to the unquestionable problems that many inhabitants of the deprived neighborhoods surrounding our cities are facing," said Chirac, who has come under fire for saying too little during the crisis.
Chirac did not explain what he meant when he said he would draw conclusions from the two weeks of unrest, but it could imply policy changes or measures to help people in the suburbs. He has made no mention of any plans to dismiss any officials.
The riots in poor suburbs began after the accidental deaths of two youths apparently fleeing police but grew into protests by poor white youths and youngsters of North African and African origin.
The unrest around France has badly rattled the conservative government and prompted Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin on Tuesday to invoke a 50-year-old law allowing certain powers, such as the imposition of night curfews.
Police said the number of vehicles burned fell by about one fifth overnight compared to the previous night and Justice Minister Pascal Clement said the new measures were the reason.
Despite the overall drop in violence, there were overnight clashes in the southwestern city of Toulouse, where a burning car was rammed into a primary school.
abcnews.go.com
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