France police killing: Hollande honours couple stabbed by jihadist

President Hollande gave the couple posthumous awards

French President Francois Hollande has paid tribute to the police couple murdered this week by a man who pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS). 

Hundreds of police officers stood in front of the coffins of commander Jean-Baptiste Salvaing and his partner Jessica Schneider, who died on Monday.

Jessica Schneider was an administrative agent for the police force; Jean-Baptiste Salvaing was a police commander

Mr Hollande said further measures would be taken to protect police officers. But when the president filed past the front row, one policeman refused to shake his hand.

In a video put online by IS, Larossi Abballa was shown confessing to Monday's killings

Hundreds of uniformed police officers and firefighters took part in the ceremony in the prefecture of Versailles, the region where the couple lived and worked. In an emotional speech, Mr Hollande said Mr Salvaing and Ms Schneider were "everyday heroes" who were killed because they made the "perilous choice" to defend their country.

President Hollande, flanked by his interior and prime ministers, files past the ranks of police officers

The pair were posthumously awarded the Legion of Honour. Mr Hollande promised to take measures to guarantee the anonymity of officers and he said police would be allowed permanently to carry their guns when off duty.

They have been allowed to do so on a temporary basis, since the Paris attacks in November, in which 130 people were killed.

"Police and gendarmes must be given the means to defend themselves when they are not on duty," he said, adding: "We must also avoid police and gendarmes being identified and targeted by criminals they have jailed, or their accomplices."

Investigators are looking into whether the couple's attacker, 25-year-old Larossi Abballa, knew his victims.