President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed on Thursday to track down the "yobs and traffickers" he accused of fomenting unrest in the high-immigration suburbs of Paris. In a prime-time television interview, Sarkozy promised his government would take a tough line towards those behind a flare-up of violence that left more than 120 police wounded, some by gunfire."These people are yobs, ready to do anything. We will find them one by one," said Sarkozy, who seized hold of the suburb crisis upon his return from a state visit to China. "We came within inches of a catastrophe," warned Sarkozy, who earlier visited several officers wounded by hunting rifle buckshot and bullets, including one who lost an eye.
Sarkozy charged earlier that the violence was caused by a hard core of delinquents rather than social deprivation. "What happened in Villiers le Bel has nothing to do with a social crisis and everything to do with yobocracy," he told a meeting of police officers. "Other unemployed people do not open fire on the police," he reaffirmed. "This has nothing to do with an accident. This has nothing to do with social problems. I will not respond to this with more money."