PARIS(AFP)-The French government yesterday declared a state of emergency in riot-hit parts of the country in order to combat the worst outbreak of urban unrest since the May 1968 student revolt.

Meeting in crisis session under the chairmanship of President Jacques Chirac, the cabinet invoked a 50-year-old law originally drawn up at the start of the Algerian war which permits the declaration of curfews, house searches and a ban on public meetings.

The measure was to come into effect at midnight (2300 GMT) after the government issued a decree setting out the geographical limits for the state of emergency.

The first place to enact the new powers was the northern town of Amiens, which declared an overnight curfew for unaccompanied under 16-year-olds as well as a ban on the sale of petrol to minors.

In remarks conveyed by his spokesman, Chirac said he had decided to “give the forces of law and order supplementary means in order to assure the protection of our fellow citizens and their property… It is necessary to hasten a return to calm.”

It was the toughest response to date to nearly two weeks of rioting in the country’s high-immigration suburbs which has left more than 6,000 cars burned, public and private property destroyed, tens of policemen injured and one civilian death.

More than 1,500 people – mainly Arab and black youngsters – have been detained.

The crisis is the worst to hit France for decades, and has thrown into stark relief the failure of its policies – based on the theory of republican equality- for integrating millions of immigrants and their children from its former African colonies.

Acknowledging the accumulation of social and economic handicaps in the Arab community, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin also announced yesterday a series of new measures designed to facilitate access to the jobs market and stamp out racial discrimination.

“Our collective responsibility is to make difficult areas the same sort of territory as others in the republic,” Villepin told the National Assembly.