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In southern France, violence continues

The violence in France`s poor, suburban communities persisted in the south Sunday with attackers ramming burning cars into the sides of a retirement home and a school in one southern town. But nationwide the unrest of the past 18 nights continued to subside. The nation`s worst violence in nearly four decades has declined slowly over the last week since its ferocious climax last weekend.

A poll published by Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper Sunday indicated that 71 percent of those surveyed do not believe President Jacques Chirac can resolve the social problems that fueled the riots. The survey also showed that 25 percent of the respondents support the policies of Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has capitalized on the violence to promote his National Front party`s "zero immigration" platform.

Some of the worst incidents of violence over the weekend occurred in southern France. In Carpentras, a town of 28,000 people in the Provence region, young men rammed burning cars into a retirement center and a school in separate attacks Saturday night. Police said no one was injured in the attacks. On Friday night, a man on a motorcycle hurled two molotov cocktails at a mosque, slightly damaging the foyer of the building.