The highly outspoken Morano, who is a member of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s inner circle, made the remarks on Monday evening in a small town in eastern France during a government-inspired debate on national identity.

“We are not putting young Muslims on trial. I respect their situation. What I want is for them to feel French because they are French,” she said in a recording played on French radio.

“I want them to love France when they live here, to find work and not to speak in slang,” she said, adding: “They shouldn’t put their caps on back to front.”

The comments tapped into stereotypical perceptions of youths from tough suburbs on the fringes of France’s big cities, many of whom are from an immigrant background.

However, back-to-front caps, baggy trousers and a distinctive form of slang known as “verlan,” once associated with those suburbs, have long since spread to high schools around the country and to youths of all backgrounds.

The French president said he was surprised by the widespread criticism of the outcome of last week’s referendum in Switzerland when 57% voted to proscribe the building of new minarets in a country that has four, and is home to 400,000 Muslims.

Sarkozy’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, promptly denounced the Swiss decision last week, saying he was shocked and scandalised and calling for the ban to be reversed.

But writing in the Le Monde newspaper, Sarkozy defended the Swiss in arguing for the necessity of the contentious debate on national identity he has sponsored in France.

But, as the government today launched a three-month “grand debate” on what unites the country, it was accused of exploiting social divisions for cynical political gain.

A magistrate has ordered Chirac to stand trial on charges of “embezzlement” and “breach of trust,” the official said on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.

Nine people were detained in the unrest early Tuesday, said regional administration spokeswoman Samira Amrouche.

She said the situation was “relatively calm” compared to the previous night, when 29 cars were burned and young people hurled Molotov cocktails at police.

The anger erupted when an 18-year-old pizza deliverer died in a motorcycle crash after fleeing a police check Sunday night. The unrest that night prompted police to send about 40 vans of riot officers to the housing project Monday night.

A helicopter beamed a spotlight into the area early Tuesday as bands of youth taunted police in a cat-and-mouse game typical of suburban unrest in France. Group of youths set street fires and hurled stones and other objects at police.