French police come under gunfire again in riot-hit suburb

Police deployed in a suburb of the French city of Grenoble to halt a wave of rioting said Sunday they had come under gunfire for a second night running.

Four men were arrested in a dawn raid in the working class neighbourhood of La Villeneuve for allegedly shooting at security forces.

Police had already made at least seven arrests overnight for carrying weapons. No one was reported hurt.

The riots broke out after a 27-year-old man was shot dead by police on Thursday when he allegedly robbed a casino in the south-eastern city nestled in the French Alps.

Youths torched between 50 and 60 cars as well as construction equipment and two shops.

Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux visited the scene on Saturday and pledged to quickly restore order to La Villeneuve.

"There's no future for hoodlums and delinquents because in the end the public authority always wins," he said.

In October 2005, weeks of rioting broke out in deprived suburban districts across France, sparked by the death of two youths who were electrocuted when they entered an electricity installation as they ran away from police.