By IRNA
Paris : Police have rounded up some 35 people in raids on housing estates near Paris.
The French police said that they targeted the leaders of riots last November.
Some 1,000 police took part in the pre-dawn sweep in and around Villiers-le-Bel, some 20km north of Paris.
The 2007 riots began in Paris’s mainly immigrant suburbs after two teenagers died in a crash with a police car.
More than 100 policemen were injured at the time, some seriously.
In December, police handed out leaflets in the suburb calling for witnesses and promising rewards of up to several thousand euros for information.
Earlier this month, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a three-year plan to deploy 4,000 more police and roll out a 500 million euro aid lifeline to Paris neighborhoods sparking protests by the inhabitants.
Sarkozy also promised to help 100,000 people find work.