CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; ADDS MORE DETAILS
By Nur Asena Erturk
ANKARA (AA) – The French president is prepared to adopt measures to restore law and order "without taboo" as protests over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old continued for a third night on Thursday.
According to the Le Figaro newspaper, Emmanuel Macron on Friday left early from an EU summit in Brussels to return to Paris, where he will convene an emergency meeting.
The president is expected to be briefed by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on recommendations to tackle the situation that developed after the death of Nahel M., who was shot dead by police on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre for failing to stop over traffic violations, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say the officer who killed the teenager has been charged with voluntary homicide and placed in pre-trial detention.
More than 600 people have since been arrested across France, with clashes between protesters and police being reported in many cities including Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Roubaix, Marseille and Lille.
The demonstrators set fire to various buildings and vandalized public property, and a number of suburbs and towns in the Parisian region also imposed a curfew.
All the regions in France were affected and videos on social media showed protesters plundering restaurants and shops.
Public buildings including schools were also targeted, and at least dozen of public buses were set on fire and burnt in the Parisian region.
Prime Minister Borne has described the acts of violence as "intolerable and inexcusable."
Interior Minister Darmanin said police arrested 667 people, including 307 in the Parisian region. As many as 249 police officers were also injured during the clashes.