State of emergency in France as violence abates on 13th day
PARIS - The French government declared a state of emergency Tuesday, enabling police to impose curfews and other extraordinary measures to combat the worst riots in recent history.
President Jacques Chirac's Cabinet decided at a special meeting to invoke an emergency-powers law that has been used only once since first wielded during the Algerian war of independence against France 50 years ago. Starting at midnight, the authorities were authorized to declare curfews in targeted areas, restrict the movement of people and vehicles, authorize police searches and place suspects under house arrest. ``For a period of 12 days, searches will be possible every time we suspect possession of weapons,'' said Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, the beleaguered point man leading the attempt to restore order. He said the measure will help ``systematically apprehend troublemakers and systematically prevent a spread of violence.''
Although arson attacks and street clashes continued Tuesday night in cities such as Toulouse and Lille, the violence appeared to abate nationwide on its 13th day, authorities said. The number of communities hit by disturbances declined from 300 to 226, according to Michel Gaudin, the director of the national police. The number of vehicles burned overnight dropped by 235, for a total of 1,173, he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment