Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra and Police Insp.-Gen. Moshe Karadi met with their French counterparts in Paris on Sunday for high-level talks that focused on the recent violent riots in France and a money-laundering investigation against Russian billionaire Arkady Gaydamak, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

Karadi and Ezra traveled to Paris on Sunday for three days of "classified meetings" with senior government and law enforcement officials including French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. Per France's request, Karadi brought along with him Asst.-Cmdr. Ya'acov Nehemia, head of the police's Special Forces, who police said would advise and train the French police in riot control techniques.

In November, French police arrested close to 3,000 people after thousands of Muslim and African youths rioted across the country. Dozens were injured in the riots and close to 9,000 cars were torched. The rioting only dissipated after the French parliament approved a three-month extension of emergency laws allowing authorities to impose curfews and conduct house-to-house searches.

The Israel Police is considered a world expert in counterterrorism as well as riot control. "We have experience in controlling riots and maintaining public order from the Palestinian intifada and the disengagement from the Gaza Strip," one senior officer explained.

Jerusalem Post 12/12/05

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