France’s Sarkozy Orders Foreign Rioters Expelled

PARIS — French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered the expulsion of all foreigners convicted of involvement in two weeks of urban riots.

Sarkozy, who has previously thrown radical Muslim preachers out of the country for breaching French laws, told the National Assembly lower house of parliament on Wednesday that 122 foreigners had been convicted of playing a role in the unrest.

“I have asked prefects that foreigners here legally or illegally, who have been convicted (over the unrest) be expelled without delay from our territory,” he said of the top government officials who oversee France’s 96 administrative districts.

The order would also include those who have a residency permit, Sarkozy said.

“For when one has the honour of having a residency permit, the least one can say is that one shouldn’t be going around getting arrested for provoking urban violence,” he said.

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