Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- French police will deploy 1,300 extra officers northeast of Paris tonight after youths destroyed at least 177 cars and fired four shots at police in a seventh night of violence in 20 suburbs, a government official said.

In Aulnay-sous-Bois, youths tried to set a police station on fire, a city hall spokesman said. They burned a Renault SA showroom, after torching a car rental business the night before, he said. Garbage containers were set on fire and bus shelters were destroyed, he said. Bullets fired at police in three locations in the Seine-Saint-Denis department didn't cause injuries, its prefect, Jean-Francois Cordet, told reporters.

The violence reflects tensions in French ghettos marked by youth unemployment of more than 20 percent, poverty and large immigrant Muslim communities in the majority Catholic nation. The riots also show the difficulties faced by many European nations in integrating immigrants.

``The sentiment of injustice, of exclusion is latent because the deep problems haven't been solved,'' said Laurent Mucchielli, director of the Center for Sociological Research on Law and Penal Institutions at Guyancourt, near Paris. ``The deep problem is the feeling of exclusion from the social and economic game. The riots are of the same nature as in past years, showing us that the problems haven't been solved.''

Electrocution

The latest riots erupted after two boys, aged 15 and 19, one of Tunisian origin, the other from sub-Saharan Africa, were electrocuted on Oct. 27 by high-voltage equipment in an electricity substation, where they took refuge because they were being pursued by police, their families said. The police denied there was any pursuit. The public prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation into the case.

Police will field an extra 1,300 officers tonight in Seine- Saint-Denis for a possible eighth night of violence after nine people, including four policemen and two firefighters, were hurt last night, Cordet, the chief government official in the department, said.

Two bullets were fired at police in the suburb of La Courneuve, one in Noisy-le-Sec and the fourth in Saint Denis, the prefect said at a press briefing.

Calls for calm by President Jacques Chirac yesterday were ignored. Chirac gave Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin a month to report on measures to integrate ethnic minorities and promote equal opportunity. He also called for a plan to crack down on youth gangs. De Villepin told parliament that 180 vehicles were destroyed up to yesterday, making for nearly 360 including last night's tally.

Action Plan

``A return to calm is the priority,'' de Villepin told the Senate today. ``Torched cars, a police station attacked, shooting of real bullets, that's unacceptable.''

De Villepin, who today held two meetings with ministers, mayors and associations to discuss his plan for the troubled areas, told lawmakers the government would help teachers and extend coaching and training.

More than 28,000 cars have been torched in France in urban violence so far this year, Le Monde reported, citing the Renseignements Generaux, the French police intelligence service.

``I should like to relay the appeal for calm made by the head of state,'' Cordet said. ``This call has been heard in Clichy and Montfermeil,'' another Paris suburb which was reported to be calm last night, ``now it must be heard in the other districts.''

Underlining the gravity of the situation, de Villepin told lawmakers yesterday he had postponed a visit to Canada. Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy canceled a three-day trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan due to start on Nov. 6, the Interior Ministry said.

Unemployment, Poverty

A series of violent protests have occurred in France, mainly in areas marked by high youth unemployment, poverty and large Muslim communities since the first serious incidents in 1981.

Similar tensions have risen elsewhere in Europe. In the Netherlands, the murder a year ago yesterday of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, has widened the gap between religious communities and inflamed tensions, a survey showed. Van Gogh, 47, made a movie critical of Islam.

Joblessness in France is 22.2 percent for men under 25 years old, compared with 7.8 percent for men aged 25 to 49, according to the Labor Ministry. France doesn't include ethnicity in its census nor does it publish poverty or unemployment statistics based on ethnicity or religion.

Among 20- to 24-year-olds living in French suburbs whose residents are predominantly Muslim, the jobless rate during the 1999 census was 37.2 percent for men, compared with the national average of 22.5 percent, and 39.5 percent for women, compared with 28.4 percent. The figures come from a 2003 report for the prime minister by the High Council for Integration.

Beginning just after World War II, France allowed in hundreds of thousands of manual laborers from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. They settled mostly in housing projects, which were specially constructed for them, outside Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other large cities. France's population of immigrants more than doubled from 1946 to 1999.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sandrine Rastello in Paris at srastello@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 3, 2005 11:33 EST