Routes into the capital were under surveillance, with several hundred police cadets brought in to reinforce the official presence on the streets. Another potential flashpoint was a football friendly between France and Germany at the Stade de France, on the volatile fringe of Paris. Several hours after nightfall, no trouble had been reported in Paris, but violence broke out early yesterday evening in the south-eastern city of Lyon, with police firing tear gas to disperse stone-throwing youths at the city’s historic Place Bellecour. It was the first time in more than two weeks of unrest that youths and police clashed in a major French city centre. Security was stepped up sharply from Friday, a national holiday to mark Armistice Day. Truckloads of CRS, the national riot police, kept guard over President Jacques Chirac as he laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

The anger and alienation felt in the deprived areas surrounding the capital was highlighted in an interview posted on the internet with two black youths from Grigny. “Do you think that if there’s a war in France, we’re going to fight beside the people who persecute us every day of our lives?” one said. “In the eyes of Chirac I’m not a French citizen, so why should I fight for the homeland?” France’s police chief, Michel Gaudin, described the overnight situation in Grigny and the rest of the Ile de France, the Paris region, as “almost normal”. But that still meant that some 100 cars were set ablaze on Friday night; in France as a whole more than 500 vehicles were burnt. The most ominous incident was in the southern town of Carpentras, where two petrol bombs were thrown at a mosque The motives of those behind this attack were not clear. The prospect of the unrest acquiring sectarian overtones ­ some far-left leafleters have tried to label the eruption of violence an “intifada” ­ brought quick condemnation and demands for an immediate investigation from President Chirac and the Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin.

But despite the destruction across France since 27 October ­ with countless vehicles torched, as well as schools, nurseries and other public facilities, curfews in half a dozen areas and more than 2,400 arrests ­ the elite did not appear to fully appreciate the depth of fury amongst the less privileged, until the centre of Paris itself was threatened. The jittery reaction to that only emphasised the gulf in understanding that remains between ruling circles and the rest. President Chirac said virtually nothing about the riots until last week, when he finally acknowledged “undeniable problems” in poor areas. “Whatever our origins, we are all the children of the Republic, and we can all expect the same rights,” he said. His tonemerely incenses the inhabitants of the euphemistically titledquartiers difficiles. The patrician Prime Minister remained equally aloof, leaving the running to his combative rival for the presidency in 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy.

The rioters saw the Interior Minister’s unrepentant talk of “cleaning out” the racaille (scum) as a provocation but M. Sarkozy, unlike his colleagues, at least went on to the streets of the banlieues. He has also conceded that France might have to institute “affirmative action” for those of Arab and African descent, and has promised thousands of scholarships to boost their chances M. Sarkozy’s words were dismissed, however, by Hamid Senni, 30, who grew up in social housing near Lyons “It’s just a lie,” he said. ” What’s holding us back is discrimination, pure and simple.” M Senni has every reason to believe that. As the child of poor Algerian immigrants, he gained an MBA, only to find that no French company would even give him an interview Finally he applied to employers in Britain. “Metal Box immediately asked me to come over, business class I felt like Cinderella,” he said After three years in Sweden, working for Ericsson, M.