French authorities responded to several new arson attacks late Friday as rioting continued for the ninth straight night in the suburbs of Paris.
Dozens of vehicles and buildings were set on fire in suburbs north of the city as gangs of young rioters, mostly of North African origin, harassed police and firefighters. Similar incidents were reported elsewhere in France for the second night.
The latest outbreak comes despite the presence of more than one thousand police officers in the Paris suburbs. French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin met with youths from those areas earlier Friday to discuss the crisis.
Many of the rioters say the French government has a racial bias and treats them as second class citizens.
The violence started last week when two North African teenagers hid from police at a power station and were accidentally electrocuted.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
