The Command Post - Global War On Terror - France Worried about Islamic Extremists

April 17, 2003

France Worried about Islamic Extremists

Worried by the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in France, the country's interior minister has threatened to expel any foreign Muslim religious leader who disseminates extremist propaganda.
Nicolas Sarkozy issued the warning after the unexpectedly strong showing of a Muslim fundamentalist party in weekend elections for a new council to represent France's various Islamic factions and serve as a link to the government.
The Union of Islamic Organizations of France -- inspired by Egypt's banned fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood -- took 19 seats in the 58-seat council in a vote Sunday. The moderate, Algerian-backed Mosque of Paris, which had been considered a favourite, won just 15 seats.
"We want to say very simply: imams who propagate views that run counter to French values will be expelled," he told Europe-1 radio on Tuesday. A majority of Muslim leaders in France are of foreign nationality, according to the interior ministry.
Sarkozy, a no-nonsense law-and-order minister who was instrumental in creating the council, said he was determined to curb the influence of extremism on one of Europe's largest Muslim communities.

(Hat Tip to James, one of our readers)

Posted by Alan Brain at April 17, 2003 07:15 AM | TrackBack

Comments

They're screwed. So screwed.

Posted by: dsmith at April 17, 2003 10:09 AM

Well, the Frenchies should throw cheese and wine at 'em. I hear they have a bunch extra right now.

Then, of course, they can surrender.

Posted by: SSRIuser at April 17, 2003 10:29 AM

There's an old african proverb:

You know the dance, the drummer's dead.

Which means by the time you woke up to reality, it's too late.

Posted by: don'tknow at April 17, 2003 11:07 AM

The best way for Muslim to have nuclear weapons is to taking over France by immigration and voting rule of the mob, thanks to idiotarians in France.

Posted by: Lanny at April 17, 2003 01:42 PM

"We want to say very simply: imams who propagate views that run counter to French values will be expelled,"

Well, that would be all Imams since the French value their illicit sexual affairs above most everything, and the Imams condemn such behavior.

Posted by: BWCASteve at April 17, 2003 03:00 PM

Expelling religious leaders for statements that run counter to French values? How respectful of human rights is that? I expect to hear a torrent of condemnation from Amnesty International and all the other human rights groups. Not.

And the French pretend to lecture us about liberty and human rights. Pfah.

Posted by: T. Hartin at April 17, 2003 05:37 PM

Actually, I like that Idea. I think I've finally found a living French politician that I can agree with.

Posted by: anon at April 17, 2003 09:59 PM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (Click here should you choose to sign out.)

As you post your comment, please mind our simple comment policy: we welcome all perspectives, but require that comments be both civil and respectful. We also ask that you avoid the extensive use of profanity, racist terms (neither of which we consider civil or respectful), and other boorish language.

We reserve the right to delete any comment, and to prohibit you from commenting on this site, if we feel you have broached this policy. As a courtesy, we will first send you an email noting a violation so you understand the boundaries. This will occur only once, however, and should we ban you from our comment forums we expect that ban to be permanent.

We also will frown upon those who suggest that we ban other individuals for voicing unpopular opinions, should those opinions be voiced in a civil and respectful manner. The point of our comment threads is to provide a forum for spirited though civil and respectful discourse � it is not to provide a forum in which everyone will agree with your point of view.

If you can live by these rules, welcome aboard. If not, then we�re sorry it didn�t work out, and thanks for visiting The Command Post.