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11/1/05

The Australian: Race riots expose France's fault lines

The Australian

Race riots expose France's fault lines

FRANCE has plunged into a bitter debate over the failure to integrate its large Muslim community after five nights of rioting in a Paris suburb populated by North African immigrants. As locals mourned the deaths of two teenage boys rumoured to have died last week while being chased by police, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated his vow of zero tolerance against urban violence. But he stood accused of playing into the hands of the extreme Right and National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen by using words such as "scum" to describe violent youths who made life "impossible" on high-rise council estates such as those in Clichy-sous-Bois. Muslim leaders from the northeast Paris suburb have released video evidence they claim proves police threw tear-gas grenades into a suburban mosque on Sunday evening. Worshippers were praying during violent unrest sparked by the death by electrocution of two youths aged 15 and 17 on Thursday evening.

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