MR Jean-Louis Debre has an acute sense of timing, writes Lara Marlowe from Paris. The French Interior Minister chose the very hour when the French parliament was voting on the controversial immigration law which bears his name to deport 110 Africans to Mali and Zaire.

The law was gassed late on Thursday night by 113 votes to 61. A host of human rights and anti-racism groups immediately called for a street demonstration to be held on March 9th. Two days later, the bill will return to the Senate, where, if confirmed, it will become the law of the land. More mass expulsions will certainly follow.

The long and bitter parliamentary debate divided the centre-right majority between anti-immigration "ultras" and more lenient politicians such as Mr Pierre Mazeaud, the head of the legislative commission and a member of President Chirac's Rally for the Republic (RPR).

In the final hours of the three-day debate, Mr Mazeaud pleaded vainly with fellow parliamentarians to "show human feelings and generosity" by approving an amendment that would have granted temporary residence papers to foreigners caught in legal limbo.