The French government on Tuesday approved lifting a state of emergency imposed during last year's urban rioting, sources in the government were quoted by Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) as saying. The decree approving the proposal by President Jacques Chirac came during a sitting of the cabinet of ministers and will take effect on Wednesday. The state of emergency was to have expired on February 21. The state of emergency was first imposed for three weeks on November 8, at the height of the three-week wave of violence by minority youths which saw more than 10,000 vehicles and some 200 buildings set on fire. The measure was extended for three months on a vote by Parliament because of fears that the unrest could break out again over New Year's Eve. However, "only" 425 vehicles were torched on New Year's Eve, slightly above the average for the last night of the year in France. The state of emergency enabled local authorities to impose a curfew and gave police powers to seize suspects and search their person and premises. However, it was not clear if the measure had any effect on the halting last year's disturbances or preventing a fresh outbreak of violence.
