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Hollande calls for constitution amendment to eradicate IS

by IBNS 16 Nov 2015, 06:48 pm

Paris, Nov 17 (IBNS) French President Francois Hollande on Monday called for amendment to the constitution to fight potential terrorists at home and for an aggressive drive to "eradicate" the Islamic State abroad, The New York Times says in a report.

 "France is at war," was what he said  at the opening of his remarks to a joint session of the parliament as  security forces in France and Belgium zeroed in on a suspect they said was the architect of the assault that killed 129 people Friday night in Paris. The suspect, a 27-year-old Belgian, has fought for the Islamic State in Syria and has been linked to other terrorist attacks.

Hollande called for quick action by the parliament on new legislation that would give the government more flexibility and teeth to conduct police raids without a warrant and place people under house arrest. He called for constitutional amendments that would give more weight to security measures relative to civil liberties, the report said.

The changes he is seeking would, among other things, extend the current state of emergency for three months and let the government strip the citizenship of French natives who are convicted of terrorism and hold a second passport.

"Our democracy has prevailed over much more formidable opponents than these cowardly assassins," Hollande said a day after France conducted airstrikes against the Syrian city of Raqqa, the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State.