2 Schools Ablaze As French Unrest Persists

Police patron near a burned out car in Toulouse, southern France Saturday Nov 12 2005. Unrest has weakened in intensity since the government declared a state-of-emergency Tuesday, empowering local authorities to invoke exceptional security measures such as curfews if deemed necessary. But emergency security measures went into effect Saturday in Paris, with 3,000 police patrolling train stations, the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Elysees to prevent France's worst unrest in decades from spreading to the capital. (AP Photo/Rmy Gabalda) (Remy Gabalda - AP)

But several Venissieux mothers said the curfew made them feel more at ease.

"We always think we're going to see our car burned, or our neighbor's car burned, when we wake up in the morning," said 40-year-old Sihem, who declined to give her last name.

In the next few days, France is expected to start deporting foreigners implicated in the violence _ a plan by law-and-order Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy that has caused divisions in the government.

A poll in the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche suggested Sarkozy is the politician that French people trust most to deal with the troubles. Some 53 percent said they supported him, while about 71 percent said they lacked confidence in President Jacques Chirac.

Nearly a quarter said they trusted Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far-right leader who was Chirac's main challenger in the 2002 presidential race. Le Pen has seized on the violence to promote his National Front party's "zero immigration" platform.

More copycat attacks were registered in neighboring countries Sunday, with 29 vehicles torched in Belgium, four cars burned in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, and two cars burned in the Swiss town of Martigny.

____

Associated Press writers Samantha Bordes in Paris and Carole Bianchi in Venissieux contributed to this report.