French parliament debates extending air strikes against 'Islamic State'
France's lower house of parliament is debating whether to extend air strikes against the so-called 'Islamic State' in Syria after the group claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.
The French government is trying to rally global action against 'IS'.
French fighter jets joined the US-led coalition against 'Islamic State' extremists in Iraq in 2014, and expanded their mission to targets in Syria in September.
President Francois Hollande cited specific threats against French interests stemming from 'IS' in Syria.
France's National Assembly is debating whether to extend the campaign in Syria, and the Senate is scheduled to debate it later on Wednesday as well.
The measure is expected to pass in both houses amid national concern following the November 13 attacks which killed 130 people.
Mr Hollande has also asked that the French fly the Tricolor at their homes for Friday's official commemoration ceremony for the victims at the Invalides monument.
He said it would be a way for people who cannot attend to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the worst attacks in recent times.
Paris' main flag-maker has recorded a 500% increase in Tricolor sales since the attacks.
Meanwhile, authorities in France and Belgium continued to search for two men believed directly linked to the attacks.
Belgium has issued an international arrest warrant for Mohamed Abrini, described as "armed and dangerous" after he was seen with Salah Abdeslam, the other fugitive suspect, two days before the killings on a highway petrol station en route to Paris.
Abdeslam, who French authorities have suggested could have been linked to a discarded suicide vest found in a southern Paris neighbourhood on Monday, crossed into Belgium the day after the attacks.
One of Abdeslam's brothers, Brahim, blew himself up outside a Paris cafe during the attacks. His other brother, Mohamed, appealed on French media for his fugitive sibling to surrender to police.
Speaking on RTL radio, Mohamed Abdeslam said he shares the pain of victims' families and wishes he and his family could have done something to prevent the bloodshed.
He said: "Let him turn himself in for his parents, for justice, for the families of victims, so that we can find out what happened."
He said his brothers had shown no signs of radicalisation, adding that he saw them a few days before they left their Brussels suburb for Paris, but had no idea what they were plotting. He said he has not heard from Salah Andeslam since.
Emergency measures have been taken in France while the manhunt continues.
UN climate talks open in Paris on Monday, with about 140 world leaders expected to attend, including US president Barack Obama.
French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that tight security would be imposed for the conference, with road traffic restrictions, border controls and additional police and troops deployed.
He said 120,000 police, gendarmes and soldiers were being deployed across France to ensure the country's security.
The attacks have also taken a financial toll in France, with restaurants, small shops, department stores, hotels and tourist sites affected.
The government said after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that businesses that had suffered a financial hit could get extensions on tax and loan payments as a means of softening the blow.
The government was also to create a special fund for theatres.
Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said he could not confirm an RTL radio report that the state treasury estimates the cost of the attacks at €2bn, although he said it "might" be right.
