The police union in France says its members are "in a state of civil war" with Muslims in the most depressed suburbs or "banlieue estates" which are heavily populated by unemployed youths of North African origin.
Nearly 2500 officers have been wounded this year in violent clashes which injure an average of 14 officers a day.
Muslims are waging civil war says police union.
Michel Thoomis, the secretary general of the hardline Action Police trade union, has written to Mr Sarkozy warning of an "intifada" on the estates and demanding that officers be given armoured cars in the most dangerous areas.
He said yesterday: "We are in a state of civil war, orchestrated by radical Islamists. This is not a question of urban violence any more, it is an intifada, with stones and Molotov cocktails. You no longer see two or three youths confronting police, you see whole tower blocks emptying into the streets to set their 'comrades' free when they are arrested."
He added: "We need armoured vehicles and water cannon. They are the only things that can disperse crowds of hundreds of people who are trying to kill police and burn their vehicles."