A  French  mayor has become the first to declare a curfew in his  riot -hit town north of Paris and the Prime Minister has warned that such a measure could become widespread as part of a government crackdown against rioters across France.

Amid fears that the violence is spiralling out of control,  French  authorities announced that a record number of 1,408 cars had been set on fire across France " including 426 in Paris " on the eleventh consecutive night of rioting on Sunday. The first fatality of the  riots  was also reported. Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec, 61, from the Paris suburb of Stains, had been in a coma since being beaten by youths last Friday as he and a companion were putting out a fire in a rubbish bin outside their block of flats.

Dominique de Villepin, the Prime Minister, announced police reinforcements to deal with the unrest in suburbs inhabited by north African and African immigrants. M. De Villepin said he would seek cabinet approval today for prefects to introduce curfews to curb with the night-time violence.

'Wherever it is necessary, prefects will be able to put in place a curfew under the authority of the Interior Minister, if they think it will be useful to permit a return to calm and ensure the protection of residents. That is our number one responsibility,' he said in a television interview.

And in a sign of the level of concern in the affected communities, the Socialist mayor of Noisy-le Grand, Michel Pajon, called for the army to be brought in. 'I am sounding the alarm,' he said. 'You can't let things get as bad as this.'

He said he recognised that for a Socialist to ask for military intervention 'an absolutely unimaginable admission of failure'.

M. de Villepin said he did not plan to bring in the military at this stage.

The scale of the problem France faces was highlighted by a police report yesterday which revealed that in the first 10 months of this year, 28,000 cars were set on fire across France. Residents of Strasbourg, Lyons and other cities with banlieues chaudes (hot suburbs) have become used to the Saturday night fever.

The rioting that has struck the Paris suburbs since 27 October has led to fears of another May 1968 or of a  French  'intifada' because of its scale and duration. It was triggered by the electrocution of two teenagers, who took refuge in an electricity substation believing police were chasing them. A third youth who was badly burnt in the incident, Muhittin Altun, called for an end to the violence in a statement from his hospital bed last night.

 French  authorities said that on Sunday night, 36 police were injured and 395 people were detained. In addition to Paris, where car dealerships and carpet factories in the north-eastern suburbs have been razed, serious unrest was reported near Marseilles and Toulouse.

The flames have spread to almost all corners of France: Noel MamÅre, the mayor of BÅgles outside Bordeaux said there had been small-scale attacks in his town since Friday night.

Laurent Fabius, the former prime minister and a Socialist party leader, said that in his town of Grand-Quevilly, several cars had been set on fire.

M. Fabius said the government appeared to have been 'overwhelmed' by the  riots . He criticised as inadequate a statement by the  French  President, Jacques Chirac, who had appeared at the side of M. de Villepin on Sunday night, in which the head of state pledged that 'the last word must be with the law'. M. Fabius said the President, who has kept a low profile since the start of the trouble on 27 October, had the appearance of a man who had just 'seen the light'.

The  French  Justice Minister, Michel Clement, promised a tough response saying that 83 people have been jailed since the  riots  began on 27 October.

The crisis has been playing itself out against a heightened rivalry for the  French  presidency, with both M. Villepin and Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister, jockeying to replace the ailing M Chirac in 2007.

M Sarkozy provoked universal criticism for warning that the racailles ('scum') on the estates should be 'hosed down', in remarks widely seen as contributing to the violence.

The  French  National Assembly is to hold a debate on the  riots  today. Deputies in the ruling UMP party are demanding tough measures such as the restoration of military service and the introduction of a state of emergency.

Non-government organisations issued urgent appeals for calm. The Union of Islamic organisations of France said: 'It is strictly forbidden for any Muslim ... to take part in any action that strikes blindly at private or public property or that could threaten the lives of others.'

Apparent copycat attacks spread outside France with five cars set on fire outside Brussels' main railway station.

Escalating violence

27 October: Rioting starts in the Parisian suburb of Clichy-sous- Bois, where it is confined for the next four nights.

1 November: The unrest spreads to three other Paris suburbs, Aulnay- sous-Bois, Blondy and Sevran. A school and more cars are set alight; police detain 19.

2 November: Police report incidents in three more dÄpartments. Nine suburbs are now rioting.

3 November: Across Paris, 177 cars, two buses, a shopping centre and car dealership are set ablaze. Shots are fired at police in Paris.

4 November: 250 arrested as rioting spreads beyond Paris for the first time. Violent incidents are reported in Rennes, Dijon, Rouen, Lille, Toulouse, Nice, and Marseille. In Paris, more than 600 cars and 27 buses are torched.

5 November: Arsonists strike from Cannes on the Mediterranean coast, to the German border city of Strasbourg to picturesque Evreux in Normandy. In central Paris, three cars are set alight in the historic Place de la RÄpublique neighbourhood. A total of 1,295 vehicles are reported destroyed; 312 arrests.

6 November: Police announce the arrest of six youths after a raid on what they call a ' petrol bomb-making factory' in Evry, south Paris.

7 November: Jean-Jacques Le Chenadec, 61, dies of injuries after the worst night of urban unrest, which spreads to 270 towns. M. Le Chenadec was beaten by a hooded youth in the Parisian suburb of Stains and is thought to be the first fatality of the  riots .

Caption:
Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister, addresses police in Evreux. Behind him is an officer injured in rioting AP

Copyright (c) 2005 Newspaper Publishing plc
Record Number: 10DC251E4DB0A768

PARIS - The success of far-right leader  Jean-Marie   Le   Pen  in Sunday's first round of presidential elections shocked France and the world.

Here are a selection of statements the National Front president has made which have shocked and for some of which he was fined.

- May 1987: "People with AIDS can infect others with their perspiration, their saliva, their touch. They are like lepers."

- March 1990: "The path of decline upon which France now finds itself can be compared to political AIDS, a word whose initials ("SIDA" in French) stand for socialism, immigration, drugs and political scandals".

- June 1996: It is "artificial to bring footballers from abroad and then to say they are part of the French team."

- August 1996:  Le   Pen  says he believes in "the inequality of the races". The government considers prosecuting him for the comment, but decides instead to strengthen legislation against racism.

- December 1997: While in the German city of Munich,  Le   Pen  declares that the gas chambers used by Nazis in the Holocaust were a "detail in the history of the Second World War."

The National Front leader had already been fined in France the equivalent of 183,000 euros (162,000 dollars) for making similar remarks in 1987.

- April 21 2002 (after he qualified to run against incumbent Jacques Chirac in the second round of presidential elections on May 5): "I call on Frenchmen and women of all races, religions and social classes to rally to this historic opportunity for national recovery."

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Copyright (c) 2002 Agence France-Presse
Record Number: 0F31F870231138D8