Naceri in legal trouble yet again

Actor arrested for driving without a license

By DAVID HAYHURST

PARIS -- Samy Naceri, star of the "Taxi" film series, added to his long list of recent legal woes after being pulled over by police in Marseille on New Year's Day and being charged for driving without a license.

The 44-year-old Naceri was sentenced to six months in prison and a €8,000 ($10,480) fine last month for racist rants against a prison officer while in custody on suspicion of drunk driving in March. However, an unrelated trial date, set for February, has kept him out of custody for the time being.

The irony of the circumstances surrounding Naceri's conviction has not been lost on the French media, since the actor has been a high-profile campaigner against racism and other social injustices in recent years.

Latest arrest marks his fifth major brush with the law since 2000. Next month, Naceri will stand trial for hitting a restaurant patron with an ashtray. In 2005, he made threatening remarks to British author Salman Rushdie while both were guests discussing anti-Islamic sentiment in Europe on a French chat show.

Naceri won an actor prize at Cannes last year for his perf as a Moroccan soldier in the French box office hit "Days of Glory." The film, which highlights the role played by tens of thousands of North African volunteers in the liberation of Italy and France, is Algeria's official entry for the foreign-language film Oscar.

Discovered by director Luc Besson, Naceri became an international box office success in the "Taxi" action comedy film series. "Taxi 4," slated for release in early 2007, will see the star once again play a Marseille cabbie who loves leading police on long, high-speed chases.

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