French Parliament OKs Anti-Terror Measures

[Freddie Stubbs]

PARIS — France's parliament approved an anti-terrorism bill Thursday that will boost the use of video surveillance and allow police more time to question terror suspects.

The bill, sponsored by law-and-order Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, passed its final hurdle in parliament with the vote at the National Assembly. Sarkozy, a member of the conservative ruling party, has sought to assure lawmakers the measure would not violate civil liberties, as some fear.

The law will allow mosques, department stores and other potential targets to install surveillance cameras, and it will stiffen prison terms for terrorists and those providing support.

It also will enable police to monitor people who travel to countries known to harbor terror training camps, and to extend the detention period for terror suspects from four days to up to six days.

more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/3542189.html

[Mass]

1. Sarkozy is certainly running as hard as he can for 2007

trying to get the votes of the Front National.

[tx_dem41]

2. My guess is....he's going to win the Presidency easily (at this point).

n/t

[Mass]

3. Not that sure.

There seems to be a serious competition on the other side. All will depend who runs for the Socialists. Many people really dislike Sarkozy and see him as a little fascist and, after 2002, if the Socialists choose the right candidate, we will not have a Sarkozy-Le Pen run-off.

This is my hope, at least.

The last BVA poll says that 41 % wants the left to win, 33 % the right, with 27 undecided.

[...of J.Temperance]

4. Don't you think that the ham-fisted initial non-response to the French

Riots, specifically the Parisien ones and then it spreading to other cities, don't you think that this will have damaged Sarkozy a little bit?

I'm not entirely sure if he's going to win the Presidency easily.

Do we have a disagreement, is this a first eh?!!

[tx_dem41]

5. I would have thought so at the beginning of the riots.

But my reading since then seems to be that Sarkozy came out of this looking pretty good (so far).

[...of J.Temperance]

6. I think

Le Pen's party is going to be a worry again, last time the Front National got a disturbing amount of votes, and they feed off all of this immigration controversy.

Sarkozy seems pretty Right-Wing...I wish Dominique de Villepin would run, he was the previous Foreign Minister and he's now the Prime Minister, I like him, he's a Moderate.

[tx_dem41]

7. I wish Villepin would run too.

I think he came out as too moderate in response to the riots (if you noticed during that two week period, Villepin was getting the rave reviews at its beginning and Sarkozy was getting the knocks for being reactionary. But, as the country became weary over two weeks, the reactions reversed).

[...of J.Temperance]

9. That

Is correct about the reactions getting reversed.

I'm hoping that something changes between now and the next election and that they can run de Villepin...I don't like Sarkozy.

[tx_dem41]

10. Nor do I. n/t

[...of J.Temperance]

11. Good n/t

[Selatius]

8. Sarkozy hates black people

He was one belligerant bastard when he was making remarks about crushing the rioters down in the poor black ghettoes.