Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy is said to have aggravated the situation, calling the rioters "scum" and claiming that he would clean up crime in these poor areas with a "power hose".
The young rioters, mainly of Arab and African origin, live in deprived suburbs where unemployment is as high as 30%. These zones are being targeted in a new plan by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who met with youths from some of the suburbs on Friday and also with eight ministers and a Muslim official on Saturday in a bid to put a stop to the problems.
