Thousands of young white men attacked people of Arabic and Mediterranean background on Cronulla Beach on Sunday.

BBC "Second night of riots hit Sydney"

"A reporter in the suburb of Cronulla, where dozens were arrested after riots on Sunday, described scenes of "chaos".

Police said carloads of people had come into the area from other parts of Sydney and committed violent acts.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard condemned the weekend's attacks by thousands of young white men on people of Arabic and Mediterranean background.

"We have shops damaged at Caringbah, cars damaged at Cronulla," said a spokesman for New South Wales police. "We have six arrests at this stage."

A reporter from the ABC national radio network said some of the people coming into Cronulla had carried out attacks on property."more

Howard's denial, ""I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country," he said.

BBC "Howard condemns riots in Sydney"

"Attacking people "on the basis of their race, their appearance [and] their ethnicity" was unacceptable, he said.

Thousands of young white men attacked people of Arabic and Mediterranean background on Cronulla Beach on Sunday.

The fighting injured more than 30 people, including police officers, and at least 16 people were arrested.

The clashes follow an assault on two lifeguards last week, reportedly by youths of Middle Eastern origin.

Mobile phone text messages began circulating after the incident, encouraging people to retaliate.

Their revenge began on Sunday afternoon, when thousands of white youths converged on Cronulla Beach.

Chanting "No more Lebs [Lebanese]" and "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie... Oi, Oi, Oi," mobs of drunken young men attacked anyone who looked like they might have come from the Middle East."more