It is quite possible that the next leader of France will be Nicolas Sarkozy. As Minister of Interior in December 2002 he called a meeting of Muslim leaders and gave them two days to reach an agreement on the formation of a representative council of French Islam. A Conseil Francais du Culte Musulman was created and chaired by the Imam of the Great Mosque of Paris. Since then Sarkozy has cracked down on the crazies, and has deported their leaders. He is hard line (and thus is at odds with people like Villepin), and is one of the reason for the riots. When he succeeds Chirac there will be even more problems. By the way Sarkozy is pro-USA and pro-NATO.
Thanks for the great background information!
That's the most comprehensive explaination I've seen yet. Thanks for the unpolluted info.