French PM says state of emergency to be prolonged

London: French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Friday that a state of emergency declared after 130 people were killed in attacks in Paris in November would be prolonged as long as necessary, the BBC quoted him as saying.

Emergency measures that give authorities extra powers to assign house arrests and conduct raids without a judicial warrant had been due to expire on Feb. 26. Officials had said it was likely to be extended but Valls went a step further.

Asked how long he envisaged the state of emergency remaining, Valls said: "The time necessary ... As long as the threat is there, we must use all the means."

Valls, speaking in Davos, Switzerland, added it should remain in place "until we can get rid of Daesh", using an acronym for the militant group Islamic State.

"It is a total and global war that we are facing with terrorism," he said. "The war we are conducting must also be total, global and ruthless."