Hundreds arrested in violence after Sarkozy win
PARIS - More than 700 cars were set alight and 600 people arrested in violence that hit cities across France after the presidential election victory of rightwinger Nicolas Sarkozy, police said Monday.
Seventy-eight police officers were injured in incidents after his triumph over the Socialist Segolene Royal in Sunday`s vote.
Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Toulouse and Rennes were among cities hit by violence blamed by police on extreme-left groups, anarchists and apolitical gangs who clashed with police.
A total of 730 cars were burned in the high-immigrant suburbs where Sarkozy is a hated figure for his tough stance on immigration and law and order. Police said a total of 592 people were arrested.
Royal had warned in the run-up to Sunday`s election that a Sarkozy victory could see the country slide into violence and unrest, similar to the rioting that rocked French suburbs in late 2005.
At the height of those riots, about 700 cars were being burned every night in cities across France for about three weeks. These incidents were combined with attacks on public buildings, 300 of which were hit.
There were few reports of attacks on public buildings since Sarkozy`s vicory on Sunday.
Earlier Monday, a police spokesman said that the widespread rioting some had feared if Sarkozy won had been largely averted. But he made that comment after police had reproted less than 400 cars burned and less than 300 arrests.
After the updated figures were announced, a spokesman declined to comment when asked by AFP if police were now saying that the predictions of widespread violence were coming true.
Thousands of police reinforcements were deployed round Paris to head off the risk of unrest in the suburbs.
Wild celebrations broke out in the capital Sunday night, with 30,000 supporters packing the Place de la Concorde where Sarkozy delivered a victory speech, pledging to bring reconciliation.
Riot police fired tear gas at stone-throwing protestors who burned an effigy of Sarkozy in the Place de la Bastille, a rallying point for Royal supporters.
On Monday, some 200 protestors, most of them high-school students, staged a rowdy anti-Sarkozy protest at the Bastille.
Blocking traffic with metal barriers and camping in the centre of the road near the square, they chanted "Sarko, Fascist, the people will get you!" and draped a French flag scrawled with the slogan "Resist Sarkozy" across the steps of the Opera house.
05/07/2007 17:02 GMT
