ABSTRACT
Between 1976 and 1985, about 100 people have died as a result of terrorism. The fact that much of this terrorism involves aliens has caused the French government to be under some pressure not only from its own citizens but also from foreign governments to take a sterner hand with 'unwanted guests' on French territory. The response of the French state is dealt with in more detail at the end of the chapter. Suffice it for now to mention a major constraint under which French governments have to operate. In tackling terrorism, French administrations have to walk a precarious tightrope between safeguarding individual liberties of citizens, and responding effectively to the threats that terrorism clearly poses to a democratic society. Terrorism arising from the Middle East situation is in a category by itself in the sense that it is 'imported terrorism'. Armenian terrorism has used French soil for some of its operations.
