Paris attacks accused Salah Abdeslam won't talk, is dropped by lawyers

Lawyers for the only known survivor of a group of Islamist militants who killed 130 people in Paris last year on Wednesday resigned from the role, saying his continued refusal to testify was due to the conditions of his detention. Meanwhile,France's government has approved a decree creating a National Guard to bolster security against extremist attacks across the country.

Salah Abdeslam, who has been held in solitary confinement near Paris since he was captured earlier this year, does not want to talk and no longer wants legal representation, his lawyers Frank Berton and Sven Mary said on BFM Television.

"We are convinced, and he told us so, that he will not talk and will use his right to remain silent. What can we do. I have said it from the beginning, if my client remains silent, I drop his defence," Berton said.

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Berton said that Abdeslam was refusing to talk because of the 24-hours-a-day camera monitoring in his high-security jail, conditions which the lawyers have repeatedly tried and failed to get changed.

"We have seen him slide away. Being watched all the time, with infrared at night, that drives one crazy, and that is a consequence of a political decision [to put Abdeslam on continuous monitoring]," he said.

Abdeslam's Belgian lawyer Sven Mary said the solitary confinement was causing Abdeslam to clam up.

"The real victims of this are the victims of the Paris attacks. They have a right to know," he said.

French authorities suspect Abdeslam, who fled the scene but was captured later, of playing a part in the organization of the multiple machine gun and suicide bomb attacks on a music venue and bars in Paris and at a football stadium on the edge of the city.

Abdeslam had been spirited out of France and back to Belgium, his country of residence, by car in the hours after the attacks. He was captured in Belgium and shipped to France earlier this year.

National Guard

France's government, meanwhile, has approved a decree creating a National Guard.

The Cabinet adopted the measure during its weekly meeting on Wednesday.

The Guard, which is expected to grow to 84,000 people by 2018, is a new, enhanced version of the existing reserve forces. Following the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris last year, President Franois Hollande proposed creation of the force to include citizens willing to get involved in serving their country.

Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the creation of the Guard "is a response to the need for an adaptation of our security and defense strategy."

"It is also a response to the patriotic spirit that was expressed after the attacks," he told reporters following the Cabinet meeting.

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Guard members' tasks will vary from patrolling the streets of big cities to securing major sport and festive events to working in military staff offices.

They will be fully integrated into regular troops and police forces for a certain period of the year from few days to several months. They can be students, job seekers, employees as well as retired police officers and military veterans.

Regular military and police reserves now include 63,000 people.

Students under the age of 25 who join the Guard a minimum of 37 days a year for five years will get a state grant of 100 euros ($146 Cdn) per month.

Businesses which allow their employees to enlist up to the legal limit of 10 days a year will be granted tax cuts.

Authorities want to be able to deploy more than 9,000 Guard members each day on the ground in 2018, through a rotation system.

The government hopes this will notably help relieving regular troops and police that face additional activity as the country is still under a state of emergency.

Following Paris attacks last year, France has deployed 10,000 troops to patrol sensitive sites such as airports, train stations and tourist areas.