Violent protests over alleged police brutality that began in the mainly immigrant suburbs earlier this month spread to central Paris and other cities on Wednesday night and 49 people were arrested.
Clashes with police broke out after hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the Barbès-Rochechouart area, near the Gare du Nord railway station, where the Eurostar terminal is located, and the Sacré Coeur basilica in Montmartre, a favourite with tourists.
Police fired tear gas to disseminate about 400 protesters, but smaller groups then went on a rampage in other parts of the capital, smashing windows and overturning dustbins in near Place de la République and in the Marais, another popular area for holidaymakers.
Disturbances also erupted in the northern city of Rouen, where 21 people were arrested. Nearly 250 people have been arrested around France since unrest began in the Paris suburbs after police were accused of assaulting a black man on February 2.
Four officers have been placed under formal investigation for assault. One is also being investigated for rape after allegedly sodomising the 22-year-old man, named only as Théo, with a truncheon
President François Hollande, who went to see the man in hospital, visited a suburb hit by unrest earlier this week. He called for peace, saying that violence by police will be punished and promising to work for better relations between police and immigrant communities.
The clashes have raised fears of a repeat of the 2005 riots which broke out in a Paris suburb and spread around the country after two youths being pursued by police were electrocuted when they tried to hide in an power station.
For many French people, the poverty-stricken suburbs of Paris, plagued by crime and high unemployment, are no-go areas.
Police complain that they frequently face attacks by highly organised drugs gangs.
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