Macron calls for talks after Paris riots

Overturned cars burn, as protesters wearing yellow vests (gilets jaunes) clash with riot police near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Saturday night. (EPA photo)

PARIS: Rioters ran amok across central Paris on Saturday, torching cars and buildings, looting shops, smashing windows and clashing with police in the worst unrest in more than a decade, posing a dire challenge to Emmanuel Macron's presidency.

Macron on Sunday surveyed the damage from the day of riots and then led a crisis meeting that ended with a call for further talks with anti-government activists who have staged two weeks of protests.

"I will never accept violence," Macron said. "No cause justifies that authorities are attacked, that businesses are plundered, that passers-by or journalists are threatened or that the Arc du Triomphe is defiled."

The president held crisis talks with the prime minister, interior minister and top security service officials to forge a response to the ongoing riots that have left hundreds injured nationwide.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has been asked to meet protest organisers and party leaders as part of a "constant wish for dialogue," the Elysee Palace said.

Environment Minister Francois de Rugy met representatives of the "yellow vests" last week but failed to convince them to end the protests.

The government has not ruled out imposing a state of emergency to combat the protests, which began over fuel taxes but have grown into wider anger over Macron's agenda.

The president earlier assessed the damage at the Arc de Triomphe, the massive monument to France's war dead at the top of the famous Champs Elysees avenue, where rioters scrawled graffiti and ransacked the ticketing and reception areas.

Inside, rioters smashed in the iconic face of a sculpture, a partial reproduction of the victory allegory La Marseillaise by Francois Rude.

Macron also saw the wreckage of burnt-out cars and damaged buildings from rioting at other sites, where he praised the police but was also booed by sections of the crowd.

Paris police said 412 people were arrested on Saturday during the worst clashes for years in the capital and 378 remained in custody.

A total of 263 people were injured nationwide, with 133 injured in the capital, including 23 members of the security forces.

A motorist died after crashing a van into traffic which had built up due to a "yellow vest" demo in Arles, southern France, a local prosecutor said Sunday. Three people have now died in incidents linked to the protests.

The anti-government protests that have swept France were sparked initially by a rise in taxes on diesel.

In Paris on Sunday as groups of workers set about cleaning up the mess from the previous day, the scale of the destruction became clear.

Around famous and tourist-friendly areas including the Champs-Elysees, the Louvre museum, the Opera and Place Vendome, smashed shop windows, broken glass and the occasional burned-out car were testament to the violence.

Dozens of cars were torched by the gangs of rioters, some of whom wore gas masks and ski goggles to lessen the effects of tear gas which was fired continually by police.

One person was in a critical condition after protesters pulled down one of the huge iron gates of the Tuileries garden by the Louvre, crushing several people.

Nearly 190 fires were put out and six buildings were set alight, the interior ministry said.

At the Arc de Triomphe graffiti had been daubed, with one slogan saying: "The yellow vests will win."