France was on alert yesterday for a possible upsurge of violence as the country headed into a long holiday weekend, two weeks after rioting broke out in a run-down suburb of the capital.
Exceptional security measures were introduced in the capital for yesterday's Armistice Day commemorations, taking place on the Champs-Elysees in presence of President Jacques Chirac, with some 2,200 police deployed for the event.
Some 12,000 security officers were to remain mobilized around the country for the long weekend, amid fears of an upswing of arson attacks.
Levels of violence in poor city suburbs remained stable overnight on Thursday, with 463 cars torched by rioters and 201 people arrested across the country, figures almost identical to the previous night, national police said.
There were few clashes between youth gangs and police, with the most serious incidents reported in the eastern city of Lyon, where police said eight officers were injured overnight.
France has been rocked by two weeks of car-burnings, arson attacks and rioting carried out mostly by young Arab and black residents of poor suburban high-rise estates, who complain of economic misery and racial discrimination.
The unrest has subsided considerably since the peak of the trouble Sunday, when more than 1,400 cars were set alight.
On Wednesday, a state of emergency was declared by the government and curfews were introduced in more than 30 towns and cities.
The weekend is seen as a key test of the government measures -- curfew powers for the worst-hit areas coupled with a package of social assistance for the run-down suburbs at the center of the riots.
Messages on Internet chatrooms and mobile phones have been calling for rioters to descend on the capital over the weekend, according to police, who arrested a fourth man on Thursday for inciting violence on the Internet.
Just over the River Seine from the Armistice Day ceremonies on the Champs-Elysees avenue, a peace rally was to be held near the Eiffel Tower, called by several associations from the Paris suburbs.
Gasoline sales to minors have also been banned in several areas, including Paris, to make it harder for rioters to manufacture Molotov cocktails.
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