Up to 897 vehicles and two schools were torched overnight across France. More photos of the story

    PARIS, Nov. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Up to 897 vehicles and two schools were torched overnight across France as the country's worst unrest in decades entered the 10th day on Saturday, when the government's key ministers met to chart out an end to the riots.

    A total of 897 vehicles, including 656 in the Paris region, were burned on Friday and Saturday across the country, Paris prosecutor general Yves Bot told Europe One Radio Saturday.

    He said he could see "organized actions, a strategy," in the arson attacks.

    "There are organized gangs. It is incontestable that it is done in a way that has shown coordination between them. We can further more read on some blog sites that ask other French cities to join the movement in the Paris region," he said.

    Attacks were also reported elsewhere. In the suburbs of Essonne, two schools were set on fire but nobody was reported hurt, said the Interior Ministry.

    Reports said a number of public buildings were targeted. A mall was set ablaze in Evreux, Normandy, and a post office was also burned down.

    The police said 253 people had been detained for questioning by Saturday and some of whom were caught carrying fire-bombs.

    As the violence entered the 10th day, French authorities vowed to restore order and justice. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin summoned eight key ministers and a top Muslim official Saturday, trying to seek an end to the riots.

    "Violence is not a solution," Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, accused of stoking passions by calling rioters "scum," told reporters after the meeting.

    "Once the crisis is over, everyone will have to understand there are a certain number of injustices in some neighborhoods. We are trying to be firm and avoid any provocation. We have to avoid any risk of explosion," he said.

    Sarkozy, whose ambition for the 2007 presidency bid is not a secret, has pledged to clean up the crime-ridden streets "with a power-hose," and controversially referred to the trouble-makers as"rabble."

    The violence was sparked last week by the accidental electrocution of two youths in the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, northeast Paris, when they hid from police in an electrical relay station. It has spread out of Paris suburbs to some other cities.

    Incidents on a smaller scale were reported in the southern cities of Toulouse and Nice, and in Lille and Rennes to the north.

    French left-wing newspaper Liberation said the rioters were inspired by a combination of anger, urban deprivation, unemployment and heavy-handed policing.

    In total, more than 2,000 vehicles have been burned in the riots. There have been no reports of deaths so far, but two people,a fireman and a handicapped woman, were injured. Enditem