France moves to extend emergency laws to quell unrest

PARIS -- President Jacques Chirac's government decided yesterday to ask Parliament to extend emergency powers for three months to quell unrest that Chirac said pointed to a national malaise and identity crisis.

''We will respond by being firm, by being fair, and by being faithful to the values of France," Chirac said in his first televised address to the nation on unrest by teens in poor suburbs over racism, a lack of jobs, and a sense of exclusion.

Chirac, who has been criticized for saying little during the crisis, announced the creation of a voluntary task force to help young people find work but ruled out ''positive discrimination" that would favor ethnic minorities for jobs.

''These events bear witness to a deep malaise," he said. ''It is . . . an identity crisis."

Although the violence was waning after peaking a week ago, police said young people destroyed 284 vehicles on Sunday night.

''I think it's over. I think the young people have let out their anger, and I think the government got the message," said Bernard Moutei, 40, walking among the high-rise estates in the Clichy-sous-Bois suburb of Paris where the unrest began.

Disturbances began with the Oct. 27 deaths of two teens apparently fleeing police, but grew into wider protests by young people of African and Arab origin as well as white youngsters.

The government approved emergency powers, including curfews, last week that went into force on Nov. 9 for 12 days.

Yesterday, the government agreed on a draft law to extend the measures until February. The law goes before the lower house of Parliament today and its passage seems certain because the ruling center-right party dominates the two chambers.

Chirac, 72, called for calm, urged people to rally together, and said the main priority was restoring public order. He acknowledged the need for France to tackle discrimination, seen as a root cause of the unrest, but said violence has never won.

''I want to say to the children of poor areas, whatever their origins, that they are the daughters and sons of the [French] republic," he said.

He called for responsibility from the media after widespread accusations that television footage of burning cars has helped fuel violence. He made a similar appeal to politicians, many of whom have been bickering over the unrest.

Chirac, who abolished compulsory military service in 1996, said the first batch of 50,000 young people would receive training in 2007 under the proposed task force.

This was one of few concrete measures he announced in addition to plans outlined by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin last week to try to give youngsters from difficult neighborhoods more opportunities.

Center-right politicians backed Chirac, saying he showed firmness and determination. The opposition Socialists, who are expected to oppose the extension of emergency powers, said the president had proposed nothing new.

''We expected a different speech by the head of state, who merely repeated the measures announced by his prime minister last week," Socialist spokeswoman Annick Lepetit said.

Violence has declined sharply since Nov. 6, when 1,400 vehicles were torched across France. Police said 10 people were arrested in the southwestern city of Toulouse after young people burned 10 cars on Sunday and damaged a school.