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French police nab 398 over New Year's revelry

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-01-01 21:04
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French police nab 398 over New Year's revelry
French riot police patrol in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris as part of security measures for the New Year celebrations in the French capital January 1, 2010. [Agencies]

PARIS: The Interior Ministry says police detained nearly 400 people in France overnight, many of them linked to car-burnings that often accompany New Year's revelry.

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The ministry says 398 people were taken into police custody -- nearly twice the figure of a year ago -- but the final count on the number of torched vehicles isn't yet available.

Dozens of cars are burnt every night in France, but the number traditionally spikes during New Year's festivities.

Such vandalism is generally attributed to marauding youths from tough neighborhoods in immigrant-heavy areas, and evokes the three-week wave of riots and other violence that shocked the country in late 2005.

French police nab 398 over New Year's revelry
Revellers celebrate the New Year on the Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris January 1, 2010. [Agencies]
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