France:The Parisian suburb of Villiers-le-Bel experienced a second night of violence last night when some 160 police in full riot gear were pelted with stones and large fire-crackers that exploded over their heads.
The violence followed six hours of rioting overnight on Sunday after the death of two immigrant youths.
The police commissioner from neighbouring Sarcelles was one of 40 policemen and a fireman injured in the violence on Sunday. He tried to calm down the crowd after two boys, aged 15 and 16, were killed in a collision with a police car in a housing estate.
The police commissioner was attacked with steel reinforcement rods and suffered a broken nose and three broken ribs.
One police commissariat was burned down and another was ransacked. Shops were vandalised and looted, and at least 28 cars were torched.
The violence raised fears of a repeat of October and November 2005, when France was wracked by three weeks of race riots after two boys were electrocuted in a power substation while fleeing police.
The collision between the police car and the motorbike occurred late Sunday afternoon. Some witnesses say the police were going 60km/h in a 30km/h district; others say the motorbike was speeding. The two vehicles collided at a crossroads. The motorbike was dragged more than 20m. The two policemen fled the scene when an aggressive crowd formed around them.
They have been placed under investigation for "involuntary manslaughter and failure to assist persons in danger". Omar Sehouli, the brother of one of the victims, told France Info radio: "This is a failure to assist a person in danger . . . it is 100 per cent a [ police] blunder. They know it, and that's why they did not stay at the scene." Mr Sehouli told AFP the rioting "was not violence but an expression of rage".
Within minutes of the fatal incident groups of hooded teenagers armed with metal bars, boards, tear gas canisters and petrol bombs took to the streets. A number of journalists were also assaulted.
The father of one of the dead youths, the mayor of Villiers and President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is in China, all appealed for calm.
"I ask for a stop to this violence. I ask for all residents and especially the youth not to succumb to anger," said Didier Vaillant, the mayor, calling for an "impartial investigation".
Marie-Thérèse de Givry, the state prosecutor in nearby Pontoise, yesterday said three witnesses had confirmed the police version of events.
The police inspectorate IGPN also said early indications were that police were not responsible for the accident. Reinforcements from the Paris region were dispatched to Villiers last night.
On Sunday night, 40 fire trucks and 150 firemen fought blazes set by rioters.
The socialist leader François Hollande said the riots were "the result of a social and political crisis" and recalled that "promises were made" after the 2005 riots.
"We want to see the results," he added. "How long have we been talking about a 'plan for the suburbs'?"
Mr Sarkozy's "Marshall Plan for the banlieues" is to be unveiled in January.