Hundreds of French riot police were deployed last night in the Paris suburb where the death of two boys in a motorcycle accident triggered violent clashes this week.
Despite isolated incidents and a few burning cars, the streets and housing estates of Villiers le Bel were generally calm as large numbers of riot police stood by and a helicopter with searchlights circled overhead.
Dozens of police officers were injured earlier in the week in clashes with gangs of youths angered by the death of two local boys in a collision with a police car on Sunday.
Riots which hit a Paris suburb this week were the work of a
President Nicolas Sarkozy sought to ease tensions but pledged to punish rioters who used firearms against police.
"Those who take it upon themselves to shoot at police will find themselves in the Assizes Court," he said after visiting one of the officers seriously hurt in the riots.
A public prosecutor has said an initial crash report cleared police of blame in what she said was a road traffic accident in which the two victims were not wearing helmets.
The violence echoed weeks of rioting that shook France in 2005 amid tensions in the grim, multi-ethnic housing estates that ring many French cities.