French president convenes top ministers to discuss spiraling violence in territory of New Caledonia
By The Associated Press on May 15, 2024.
PARIS (AP) – French President Emmanuel Macron has convened a meeting of top ministers to discuss spiraling violence in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, his office said Wednesday. The special defense and security council meetings typically bring Macron together with a limited group of officials, including Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and the ministers for defense, interior, economy and foreign affairs. On Wednesday, a person was fatally shot in the French Pacific territory as violent unrest over a constitutional reform pushed by Paris roiled the archipelago, which has long sought independence. On Tuesday, the French Interior Ministry sent police reinforcements to New Caledonia, which long served as a prison colony and now hosts a French military base. French Interior and Overseas Territories Minister Gérald Darmanin said four mobile gendarmerie squadrons are being deployed as reinforcements, including 15 gendarmes from an elite intervention unit. 6-5
