Paris: Uneasy calm as police patrol riot suburbs

An uneasy calm fell over Paris’ riot-hit suburbs today after a week of unrest by gangs of youths shooting at police and firefighters, starting fires and attacking symbols of the French state.

Riot police were out in force with some 1,300 deployed across the low-income region of Seine-Saint-Denis north east of the capital after prime minister Dominique de Villepin vowed to restore order.