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Excerpt:
More broadly, Sarkozy's record to date also indicates a willingness to take aggressive and at times controversial counterterrorism positions. In 2005, while serving as France's interior minister, Sarkozy successfully pushed through tough new counterterrorism laws, increasing the government's access to private sector information, imposing longer prison sentences for those convicted of terrorism offenses, and extending the length of time suspects can be held without charge. That same year, Sarkozy also deported twelve Islamic extremist imams from the country, insisting that France has to "act against radical preachers." Finally, Sarkozy ran for president on a pro-U.S. platform and might be more responsive to U.S. prodding on this issue than Chirac was.
