French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said Thursday he had lodged a complaint against a rapper behind a music video called "Shoot the Pigs" which police say promotes violence against officers.

"I will not allow a rapper who is seeking notoriety to threaten men and women who, in sometimes difficult conditions, ensure the security of our citizens, even at risk to their lives," the minister said.

Justice Minister Michele-Alliot Marie said she had requested that the Paris prosecutor's office open a preliminary inquiry into some of the statements made by the rapper, known as Abdul X.

The union Alliance Police also called for an immediate investigation and said Abdul X should be charged.

"(We are) deeply shocked by the lyrics of a rap 'artist' who, in a video released on YouTube, clearly calls for police to be killed and attacked in every part of" the greater Paris region, said Alliance Police in a statement.

"Freedom of expression or artistic creation cannot in any way justify such incitement of hatred," the union said.

It called on the interior ministry to stop the spread of the video -- in which the rapper brandishes a gun -- and protect police from provocation.

Tension often runs high between residents and police in France's largely immigrant urban districts.

In October 2005 weeks of rioting broke out in deprived suburbs across France sparked by the death of two Parisian youths who were electrocuted when they entered an electricity installation as they ran away from police.

Last month rioters opened fire on police in a suburb in the southwestern city of Grenoble following the shooting of a suspected casino robber.