France's government wants emergency surveillance powers

PARIS: French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is calling for the government to be granted emergency surveillance powers in case of an exceptional threat.

In a speech in Parliament, Valls urged a new intelligence bill for extraordinary measures that would be used only "in case of major crisis affecting the citizens' security."

The law would allow intelligence services to use surveillance powers without submitting a request to an independent nine-person panel, as normally required.

Lawmakers today started debating a bill aimed at legalizing broad surveillance of terrorism suspects, three months after the deadly Paris attacks. The proposal caused an outcry from some privacy advocates, human rights groups and the Paris bar association, despite the government's efforts to distance itself from US-style mass surveillance.