November 1, 2005 Another night of riots in France By INGRID ROUSSEAU - Associated Press BOBIGNY, France (AP) — France’s interior minister Monday promised heightened security in rough neighborhoods following four nights of rioting that injured at least 22 people in a Paris suburb. Riot police will be assigned to troubled neighborhoods, while plainclothes agents will seek gang leaders and drug traffickers, said Nicolas Sarkozy. The deaths of two teenagers Thursday triggered clashes between police and angry youths in the northeastern Paris suburb of Clichy-Sous-Bois. The boys, ages 15 and 17, were accidentally electrocuted as they hid from police in a power substation. A third youth suffered serious burns. On the fourth night of rioting Sunday, six police officers were injured, 11 people were detained and cars and garbage bins were set on fire. Fifteen officers and a journalist were injured in the disturbances Friday night and Saturday morning, and at least 14 people were detained. The unrest highlighted security problems plaguing France’s big city suburbs despite government pledges over the years to tackle unemployment, delinquency and drug trafficking. Troubled suburbs, often home to immigrants with modest incomes, have provided fertile terrain for Muslim prayer leaders sending radical messages to disenchanted youths. Sarkozy confirmed reports that a tear gas grenade was thrown into a local mosque, but added that “this doesn’t mean it was fired by a police officer.” Rumors that police had attacked the mosque with tear gas helped fuel the riots. The minister, who planned to meet with the mosque’s imam, or prayer leader, said the incident would be investigated. The violence has shone a spotlight on Sarkozy, a presidential hopeful for the 2007 elections who used the attention to repeat his tough law-and-order message. The boys’ families refused to meet Monday with the interior minister, whose tough anti-crime tactics have made him a divisive figure. Siyakah Traore, the brother of one of the victims, called Sarkozy “very, very incompetent” and asked instead to see Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.