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Officers made 349 arrests, including six youths who had manufactured a stock of 90 Molotov cocktails in a disused police building south of the capital. The violence has tarnished France's image abroad, forcing Villepin to cancel a trip to Canada, while Russia and the United States have warned their citizens to avoid troubled suburbs. Neighboring Germany, too, has a large immigrant population, including over 3 million Muslims -- most of Turkish origin. Wolfgang Bosbach, deputy leader of the conservative Christian Democrats in parliament, told a Sunday newspaper: "There are differences between the situation in France and here, but we should not be under the illusion that similar events could not happen in Germany." In Italy, opposition leader Romano Prodi called on the government to take urgent action, telling reporters: "We have the worst suburbs in Europe. I don't think things are so different from Paris. It's only a question of time." "FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP" French Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande said the riots were a failure of government policy and leadership. "Where is the president when such serious events are taking place?" he asked, noting Chirac had won re-election in 2002 by attacking the then-governing Socialists' record on law and order. Jean-Marie Huet, a senior Justice Ministry official, said 160 people had been brought before the courts since the unrest started. Around 20 had been jailed, 30 others released on bail, and 50 minors had been brought before juvenile courts. Communist and Green Party officials demanded one symbolic measure, the resignation of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who is challenging to replace Chirac in 2007.
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