The Albany Gazette - France seeks answers after week of rioting

The meeting with 220 mayors whose municipalities suffered damage over a week of violence, to be held at the Elysee palace, comes as the authorities reported a much calmer night across the country.

Overnight violence in French cities had halved in 24 hours, the interior ministry said, with 72 people arrested overnight nationwide, including 24 in and around Paris, and 24 buildings torched or damaged.

It said 159 vehicles had been set ablaze and 202 fires set in rubbish bins or elsewhere in public areas.

Four offices of police or gendarmes came under attack, but there were no injuries.

Police mobilisation had been kept at the same level as the two previous nights, at 45,000 in all of France.

The government has battled riots and looting since 17-year-old Nahel M. was killed by an officer during a traffic stop on Tuesday just outside Paris, rekindling long-standing accusations of systemic racism among security forces.

Mayors across France had held rallies Monday calling for an end to the violent clashes.

- 'Painstaking long-term work' -

Their call for a "return to republican order" came after the home of the mayor of a Paris suburb was rammed by a burning car, prompting widespread outrage.

In an overnight tweet, Macron thanked police, gendarmes and firefighters for their "extraordinary mobilisation in these recent nights", after meeting with police late Monday.

On Tuesday at the gathering of mayors, Macron hopes to "start the painstaking, long-term work needed to understand the deeper reasons that led to these events", an official at the president's office said.

Just under 4,000 arrests have been made since Friday, including more than 1,200 minors, according to justice ministry figures.

Macron raised the idea of handing out quick-fire fines to the parents of children caught for vandalism or robberies.

"With the first crime, we need to find a way of sanctioning the families financially and easily," he said, according to comments reported by the Parisien newspaper.

- 'Destroyed everything' -

French businesses were meanwhile counting the cost of the seven nights of rioting which left countless shops and other outlets vandalised.

"They destroyed everything," said Alexandre Manchon who works in a tobacco store in the southern city of Marseille which has seen some of the worst looting.

"None of this is our doing, we are just working people who get up at five in the morning so we can feed our children and families," he told AFP.

Despite the fall in violent incidents "everybody worries that it may be a false calm", said Abdelhamid Faddeoui, who runs private security firm Aetos Securite Privee. "Most of my clients are maintaining a high level of protection."

Employers' organisations called on the government to create an emergency fund "for those who lost everything".

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday the government may allow businesses in the riots to suspend tax and social security payments as they rebuild.

Police meanwhile said it questioned one of the passengers in the car driven by Nahel M., who had turned himself in, to find out more about the exact circumstances of the shooting.

The policeman who fired the lethal shot remained in custody Tuesday, charged with homicide.

An online collection for the family of the 38-year old, launched by farright figure Jean Messiha, has gathered more 1.4 million euros ($1.5), sparking outrage among the political left.

"It pays to kill a young Arab," tweeted Manon Aubry, a European Parliament deputy for the hard-left LFI party.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne also expressed her unease with the initiative, saying it did not "contribute to calming the situation".

A fund to support the family of Nahel had run to just under 346,000 euros by Monday afternoon.

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(A.Berg--BBZ)