French MPs back stripping of citizenship

President Francois Hollande's plan to strip French citizenship from people convicted of terrorism passed a first hurdle on Tuesday when the lower house of parliament backed controversial proposals introduced after Islamic extremists killed 130 people in Paris last November.

The National Assembly voted by 162-148 late on Tuesday to write a passport-stripping clause into the Constitution, despite misgivings by some lawmakers that it was too extreme.

The vote appeared to only partially defuse concerns of a broad rebellion scuttling a proposal that some, notably members of the ruling Socialist Party, consider an ineffective, symbolic measure in France's battle against terrorism.

Hollande's government launched the long process to change the Constitution after the Nov 13 Paris attacks, for which the militant group Islamic State claimed credit. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls welcomed the vote's result.

Asked by reporters if the tight outcome meant there was a risk the reform could fail to pass the next legislative steps to make it definitive, Valls said, "Tomorrow, we will hold another vote. I think the approval will be broader and the constitutional reform will go ahead."

A follow-up vote was scheduled for yesterday in which the lower house is due to reaffirm the vote.

France is in the process of extending until the end of May a state of emergency that was declared on the heels of the attacks.