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## Text messages urge violence in Paris: 'This is not a rumor'

November 13, 2005

BY JOCELYN GECKER

PARIS -- Thousands of Parisian police guarded the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysees and train stations Saturday, as part of emergency measures enacted in response to text messages and Internet postings that called for "violent actions" in the capital.

In Lyon, France's third largest city, police fired tear gas to disperse stone-hurling youths at the historic Place Bellecour. It was the first time in 17 days of unrest that youths clashed with police in a major city.

Hours earlier, authorities had announced a weekend curfew in Lyon, barring youths under 18 from being outside without adult supervision between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

School set on fire

In separate incidents Saturday night in the southern city of Carpentras, rioters crashed cars into a retirement home and a school before setting the vehicles on fire, the national police said. A primary school was also set ablaze in Carpentras.

The violence started in the Parisian suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois on Oct. 27 when about 100 youths rioted to protest the accidental deaths of two Muslim teens who were electrocuted while hiding from police in an electricity substation.

The turmoil, marked by arson and clashes with police, quickly spread across France in housing projects plagued by unemployment and alienation. The unrest has forced France to confront its failure to integrate minorities and the anger simmering among its large African and Arab communities.

The emergency measures in Paris came a day after cell phone text messages and Internet blog postings called for "violent actions" in Paris on Saturday evening. Authorities banned public gatherings considered risky to keep the unrest from reaching inside the capital.

"This is not a rumor," National Police Chief Michel Gaudin said. "One can easily imagine the places where we must be highly vigilant."

Injured by bocce ball

No trouble was reported in Paris several hours after nightfall, but 10 people in Le Blanc-Mesnil, northeast of Paris, were arrested late Friday for carrying gasoline in cans, police said.

In the northern Paris suburb of La Courneuve, a police officer was injured after being hit with a bocce ball dropped from an apartment building.

About 40 towns, suburbs and small cities have imposed curfews on minors.

AP

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