Paris ? Authorities stepped up security Friday and placed restrictions on some public gatherings after tip-offs from Internet and text messages suggested “violent actions” over the weekend in the French capital.

But as France marked Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I, calls for peace in the restive poor neighborhoods of France rang out, from demonstrators in Paris to religious leaders at a Lyon-area mosque in the southeast.

Arson attacks that hopscotched around the country, destroying schools, gymnasiums, public buildings, public transport and cars, have declined in recent days, but stretched into a 16th day despite the calls for peace, with more than 300 cars torched across the country and 119 people arrested overnight into today.

In the south, an attacker threw two firebombs into a mosque during Friday prayers, causing minor damage. It was not immediately clear if the attack was linked to the wider unrest.

With a state of emergency in place, several hundred people gathered at the glassy Wall of Peace near the Eiffel Tower to call for an end to the unrest that erupted Oct. 27 and spread across the country.

The demonstration drew elderly Parisians and youths from its poor working-class suburbs along with curious onlookers, all engaging in heated debate over how to stem the violence and tackle the causes.

The word Peace is engraved on glass in 32 languages and 14 alphabets on the Wall of Peace. The placards read Yes

Authorities have acknowledged the roots of the problem are deep-seated, perhaps linked to the French approach to immigration which works to fit immigrants, whatever their origins, into a single mold. Soaring unemployment, poverty and discrimination are common in towns that ring the large cities of France.

“The violence of the last 15 days expresses the frustration of 30 years of denying recognition to the populations living in these neighborhoods,” said Hassan Ben M’Barek, a spokesman for Suburbs Respect, which organized the demonstration.

He called on President Jacques Chirac and the government to listen to the youths, whose roots are in former French colonies of Africa, to better fight the “discrimination they suffer daily.”

The recent unrest has decreased since France imposed a state of emergency Wednesday that empowers regions to impose curfews and conduct house searches. Six regions have so far used the powers, more recently prefect Pierre Soubelet of the Landes region in the southwest.

Authorities bolstered security in Paris, deploying truckloads of riot police as Chirac rode in an open jeep down the Champs-Elysees to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to mark Armistice Day.

Paris police headquarters banned gatherings of “a nature that could provoke or encourage disorder” from 10 a.m. today to 8 a.m. Sunday.

“Messages distributed in the last few days over the Internet and by text messaging have called for gatherings Nov. 12 in Paris and ‘violent actions,’ in the words of their authors,” a statement said.

National Police Chief Michel Gaudin said five people have been taken into police custody on suspicion of putting up Internet sites calling for violence.

Five police officers were placed under investigation – a step short of formal charges – in connection with the beating of a man detained in connection with the riots, a prosecutor said on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.

Two officers allegedly participated in the beating, which was filmed and broadcast Thursday on France 2 television. The others were witnesses.