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3/26/07

IHT: France's 'thugs' hope to win revenge on Sarkozy - by Katrin Bennhold

For the complete report from the International Herald Tribune click on this link

France's 'thugs' hope to win revenge on Sarkozy - by Katrin Bennhold

ARGENTEUIL, France: "Remember the riots?" The young man in a leather jacket was scribbling hurriedly on a wall in a housing project in this working-class suburb north of Paris: "This time the thugs vote!" French, black and 21 years old, he has been waiting for next month's presidential election for nearly a year and a half. So have his friends. Ever since October 2005, when Nicolas Sarkozy, the front-runner in this campaign, came to Argenteuil as interior minister and vowed to rid the town of "thugs."

On Monday, the French rapper Rost unveiled a 32-page voting guide for the suburbs, containing basic information on the political system, the words to the national anthem and answers - from several presidential candidates - to 10 questions on how to improve the situation in the most volatile neighborhoods. Royal, Bayrou, and Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far-right leader, participated. Sarkozy did not. His unpopularity in the suburbs is tangible.

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