PARIS, Nov 2: French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday that he had cancelled a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan next week to tackle riots which have gripped suburbs around Paris for the past six nights.
He made the announcement in a statement issued after another night of violence in which gangs of youths in poor, high-immigrant areas clashed with police and set vehicles ablaze.
Sarkozy has implemented tough law-and-order policies meant to crack down on deliquency and crime in the low-rent neighbourhoods around Paris and other major cities.