France Beefs Up Response to Riots

Some political analysts said government officials didn't focus on the severity of the violence in its first days because many were on vacation or at their country houses celebrating the All Saints' Day holiday. As they returned to their Paris offices the following Monday, the rioting was gaining momentum across the suburbs.

Still, President Jacques Chirac did not speak out publicly until Monday evening, the 12th night of violence. He made a three-minute appearance and vowed tough action against the perpetrators.

Chirac, whose lackluster performance in office and recent health problems have cemented his status as a lame-duck president, allowed two rival ministers -- Prime Minister Villepin and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy -- to engage in public bickering over the proper course of action. Both aspire to replace Chirac in the 2007 presidential election.

Sarkozy inflamed the rioters by calling them "scum." Many of the youths have said they won't stop the burning until Sarkozy is removed from office.

Some analysts blame the government's weak responses on an attitude of diffidence toward communities that most French officials and middle- and upper-class residents never see. Unlike in the United States, where most low-income housing projects are located in inner cities, French subsidized housing was built in the suburbs, out of sight of the historic and charming town centers that draw millions of tourists each year.

The politicians in Paris, as well as many Parisians, feel immune to the rioting in the suburbs and elsewhere, said Guillaume Parmentier, who heads the French Center on the United States, a Paris-based research organization. "So a few cars are burning in the suburbs," he said. "This is the sort of thing that happens; it's very unpleasant, but you can't put a policeman behind every car."

Such an attitude of indifference has alienated the young men and boys throwing homemade gasoline bombs. Immigration expert Bertossi said many of the targets of the violence "are the symbols of the institution -- schools, the police, the firemen."

In the highly competitive French education system, most students in the poor suburbs of Paris and other major cities go to schools that are decrepit and crowded. Dropout rates are high.

Villepin said Monday the government planned to restore some of the budget cuts made to academic institutions in the country's poorest communities and would increase tutors and scholarships for students in those areas. He provided no details, however. He also said it was "the responsibility of parents to calm" their children who were taking part in the violence.

"It's no wonder these kids are protesting when their future looks like a dead end," said Michel Narbonne, 59, who sells stamps to collectors at a Paris street market. "They are frustrated, like the majority of French people. These kids are doing what most French people have wanted to do for the past 10 years."