French PM urges calm

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin called for a return to calm in the Paris suburbs yesterday after youths went on the rampage on the capital's outskirts for the fifth night running.

Eleven vehicles were burned and a policeman lightly injured in the latest overnight disturbances in the north-eastern Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where passions were raised a day earlier when a tear gas grenade was fired into a mosque.

The violence began following the death of two teenagers of African origin who were electrocuted last Thursday night while apparently fleeing police. "The prime minister stressed the need for a return to calm and the restoration of public order," his office said in a statement issued after he met the families of the two teenagers who were electrocuted.

Mr Villepin's call for calm followed sharp criticism from the opposition Socialists of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy's "zero tolerance" policy towards the violence. The teenagers' families refused to meet Mr Sarkozy at his ministry on Monday.

Mr Sarkozy joined yesterday's meeting with the families at Mr Villepin's invitation, a source close to the prime minister said. The two men are locked in an increasingly tense battle to lead the right in the 2007 presidential election.