Sawt Falasteen - Rioters target Apple Store in daylight looting in French city

Fearing an outbreak of vandalism, police had earlier locked down access to a shopping mall in the centre of the eastern French city, where one of the Apple Store's entrances is located.

But groups of youths gathered at another entrance to the store, outside the mall, and began to vandalise it, witnesses said.

"They broke two of the store's windows, and we saw gangs of young people going in and coming out, in and out, trying to steal display items," Corentin Flinck, who works in a neighbouring shop, told AFP.

Police used teargas against the looters, he said, as regular shoppers sought refuge inside stores.

Several police arrived to block access to the Apple Stores, and explosions were heard.

Staff at nearby department store Galeries Lafayette lowered metal shutters for protection, as did other stores in the neighbourhood.

Several luxury goods shops had already emptied their window displays, but other shops, selling clothes or shoes, were plundered, an AFP reporter said.

Rioters also damaged a police vehicle.

Eleven people were arrested, according to the interior ministry.

The entrance to the Strasbourg opera house was also damaged, and Friday evening's performance cancelled.

The unrest was sparked by the killing of 17-year-old Nahel on Tuesday in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre.

I.Matar--SF-PST