Clashes in French suburb expose tensions unresolved since 2005

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Rampaging youths threw Molotov cocktails and set fire to cars in a troubled neighborhood outside Paris on Monday, the second night of street violence after two local teens were killed in a crash with a police patrol car. President Nicolas Sarkozy, visiting China, appealed for calm, while police braced for more problems. With more than 20 police officers injured and two police stations attacked in a first night of rioting Sunday, the violence was a reminder of the tensions that drove weeks of rioting in 2005 in poor neighborhoods with large minority populations. Anger focused on police, with residents claiming that officers left the scene of Sunday's crash without helping the two teens whose motorbike collided with their car. Officials cast doubt on the claim but the internal police oversight agency was investigating nevertheless.