French cabinet agrees to extend state of emergency
Paris | AP | 15/11/2005 | Print this page
The French Cabinet approved a bill yesterday to extend the country's state of emergency for three months, while youths set schools ablaze and waged other scattered arson attacks across France. Though the unrest is abating, the bill, if approved by parliament as expected, would allow a 12-day state of emergency to be prolonged until mid-February if needed. The emergency measures empower regions to impose curfews on minors, conduct house searches and take other steps to prevent unrest. "It is a measure of protection and precaution," President Jacques Chirac said. Chirac stressed that the measure was "temporary" and that regional officials would use it "only where it is strictly necessary." About 40 French towns, including France's third-largest city, Lyon, have used the measure to put curfews for minors into effect. Overnight, the number of car-torchings, a barometer of the unrest, dropped sharply, with youths setting fire to 284 vehicles, compared to 374 the previous night, police said yesterday. There were no clashes between police and rioters. "The lull is confirmed," national police spokesman Patrick Hamon said. A week ago, 1,400 cars were incinerated in a single night. The 18 nights of arson attacks and riots - set off by the accidental electrocution deaths of two teens who thought police were chasing them, began in Paris's poor suburbs, where many immigrants from North and West Africa live with their French-born children in high-rise housing projects. France's worst unrest since the 1968 student-worker protests is forcing the country to confront decades of simmering anger over racial discrimination, crowded housing and unemployment. Violence has decreased steadily since France declared a state of emergency on Wednesday. The measure, unless extended, is set to end on November 20.
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