After two nights of racial riots in the suburbs of Sydney, a strong police presence contributed to a calm Tuesday night.

More than 450 officers patrolled the areas where white and Middle Eastern youths have clashed since Sunday. Using their headquarters at the Cronulla Surf Club as a base, police set up roadblocks and made two arrests, including one of a man carrying a knife.

Details on the second arrest were not immediately known.

New South Wales state lawmakers have planned an emergency session Thursday to debate a law that would reign in future rioters by giving police extra powers -- including the ability to randomly search vehicles.

The law would allow police to close bars and stores selling alcohol during times of unrest, New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma told a press conference Tuesday.

The state parliamentarians will also discuss whether to allow the use of "lockdown zones," which would close roads and make travel difficult for marauding convoys.

Iemma also hopes to urge his colleagues to toughen prison sentences for crimes associated with rioting. It is expected the opposition will support the measures, as it has already called for tougher laws.

Australia not a racist country, PM says

Australia's Prime Minister doesn't think recent outbreaks of racially motivated violence will tar the world's view of the country.

"I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country," said John Howard, on his way to an Asian relations summit on Tuesday.

Iemma was also on the defence about the attitudes in his state.

"I won't allow Sydney's reputation as a tolerant, vibrant, international city to be tarnished by these ratbags," he said.

Sunday's initial spate of violence was instigated by rumours that Lebanese youths had attacked two lifeguards earlier this month. A crowd of 5,000 whites roamed the streets targeting people they thought looked Arabic.

Tensions between white Australian youths and those of Middle Eastern decent have been on the rise since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S. and the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, which killed 88 Australians.

Middle Eastern youths in Sydney's suburbs struck back Monday. Driving around Cronulla Beach in gangs, they smashed windows in homes, stores and parked vehicles, chased by police cars and a helicopter.

The wave of violence appeared to spreading throughout the country -- a Perth family of Middle Eastern background was ambushed by 11 white youths Monday night, and a Lebanese taxi driver in Adelaide was punched by a client who had taunted him about the earlier Sydney violence.

The 42-year-old father of the Perth family told Australian radio that the men attacked his home, throwing eggs and kicking the garage door while shouting derogatory comments.

The riots seem to be largely planned through text messages. One circulating on Monday encouraged a continuation of the violence this coming weekend.

"We'll show them! It's on again Sunday," the message reads.

Another states "the Aussies will feel the full force of the Arabs as one," and calls for "brothers in arms" to "unite now."

Australia is home to 300,000 Muslims, who live mainly in lower income suburbs of large cities. The unrest parallels riots in Parisian suburbs in October, caused by increasing social discontentment in communities with high populations of Muslim immigrants.