WASHINGTON – As French citizens and police officers braced for more violence last night, officials at the French Embassy here sought to portray the uprising as stemming from youthful frustration over a lack of recognition and not reflective of the general mood among the country’s Muslim minority.

The French government declared a state of emergency, invoking a 50-year-old Colonial-era law and imposing a 12-day curfew on French citizens last night, the clearest sign yet that officials in Paris have come to view the rioting that has spread to more than 200 cities and towns as a full-fledged crisis.

Yet embassy officials in Washington downplayed President Chirac’s response, saying the violence is serious but isolated, and that tourists have nothing to fear. Nathalie Loiseau, a spokeswoman for France’s ambassador to America, Jean David Levitte, said French authorities can handle the situation on their own, without interference from the United Nations or the aid of troops from other countries. She said a broad effort at reaching out to minority groups would be an important part of the national response.

“As a citizen, I am concerned,” Ms. Loiseau told The New York Sun. “What is happening in my country is taken seriously by everybody. We hope that calm and order come back quickly, and we support the government for its firmness. But, at the same time, we also have to address the needs of the young generation. If there is more to be done in terms of education, in terms of attention, this is something that must be collectively done not only by the state but by every part of society.”

Ms. Loiseau rejected the view that the uprising, ignited after two Muslim youths were electrocuted while hiding from police in a French suburb, is the fruit of Colonialism or the result of discrimination against North and West African immigrants. She said the greatest victims of the violence are working-class members of the Muslim communities.

“Sometimes criminal gangs want to use the situation to their own advantage, and you also have the phenomenon of a fight between cowboys and Indians,” Ms. Loiseau said. “Some of these youthful gangs are obviously having fun with what they are doing. They are trying to challenge the police, they are trying to get media attention, and that’s part of the problem as well. This is a big problem for people who live in these neighborhoods, mostly poor people who work. They are the ones who suffer the most from this.”

The political response to the current violence is unpredictable, Ms. Loiseau said, because those behind the violence have not made specific demands.

“Some of them are unemployed, they quit school at 13 or 14, and they seem to be protesting the situation,” she said. “It’s difficult to assess what they want because there is no political claim or religious claim on their part. No political motives are expressed.”

Marauders torched more than 1,173 cars Monday night, as compared with 1,408 the previous night, according to Associated Press reports.