"I was sad" about the violence, said a local 12-year-old, Mathew, who recounted hearing explosions and going to the library, where he sometimes did homework, while it was still ablaze. "My parents weren't sad -- they were a little shocked," he added, saying there was nothing for him to do at home. "Now they won't know what to do with me."

In the area around the library, the streets were littered Tuesday with shattered glass, crumbled rock and other debris left from Monday's clashes between police and youths. A few youths walked around the library Tuesday, occasionally throwing rocks at outsiders.

Shop windows in some parts of town were smashed; burned-out vehicles were scattered along roadsides.

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Many white residents of the town appeared to be taking the violence with a sense of resignation. GÂ¿rard Jean, a town firefighter who was comforting a friend inside her ransacked beauty salon, said getting angry wouldn't help. "I feel sorry. If we get angry, we'll be like the kids in the street."

‘Died for nothing’
Photocopied pictures of the two dead youths were taped on many shop windows, street signs and doorways. "We love you," said a note under the picture of Larami Samoura, 16. On the picture of Moushin Souhelli, 15, was written: "Deceased 25/11/07. Died for nothing."

The deaths are under investigation. Police said the youths were riding an unregistered motorbike, without helmets, and crashed into the police car at high speed. Some residents and relatives of the youths said police left the scene too quickly and failed to help the injured teenagers.

Patrice Ribeiro, deputy general secretary of Synergie, the police union, said in a telephone interview that the two officers in the car had to leave the scene "as soon as possible" because "groups of guys ran towards the police car and wanted to lynch" them.

More than 100 police officers were injured -- five seriously -- in pitched street fights here and in five other communities north of Paris on Sunday and Monday nights, Ribeiro said.

About 80 cars were set afire Monday night, he said.

IMAGE: People paying tribute to teenagers killed.
Patrick James / EPA
Some 500 people pay tribute in Villiers le Bel, France, on Tuesday, to the two teenagers who died when their motorcycle crashed against a police car. The youngsters deaths sparkled riots.

"There were rifle shots the first evening of violence," and Monday night "was worse," he said. "We're witnessing a climate of insurrection. We're now dealing with urban guerrillas, with people hiding in groups, throwing projectiles when night falls."

Prime Minister FranÂ¿ois Fillon and Interior Minister MichÂ¿le Alliot-Marie toured the town Tuesday. "Those who shoot at police are criminals, and they will be pursued as such," Fillon told reporters.

Sarkozy, who is in China, was to return to France on Wednesday and hold security meetings in the morning, his office said.

"The kids have one frozen idea about the police. The police are just the devil, and there's no solution," said Pierre TapÂ¿, pastor at a local Baptist church who moved to the town from Ivory Coast six years ago. On the other hand, when police see the young people, they see only black and immigrant youths, even though many are French, he said. "The responsibility for the situation has to be shared. The kids are at fault, and so are the police."

Correspondent Molly Moore and researcher Corinne Gavard in Paris contributed to this report.

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