By Gerard Bon and Brian Love / Reuters PARIS: French police commandos arrested 19 people and seized weapons on Friday morning swoops on people suspected of radical Islamist activity, in several cities including Toulouse, scene of the killings of four Jews and three soldiers this month. President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is waging an uphill battle for …
By AFP PARIS: France said Thursday it had banned four Muslim preachers from entering France to attend an Islamic conference, saying their “calls for hatred and violence” were a threat to public order. President Nicolas Sarkozy had wanted to ban the high-profile Islamic clerics from attending the conference next month in the wake of a …
By Dominique Moisi PARIS: “One must fight both terrorists and the causes of terrorism with the same determination.” That formula, coined ten years ago in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, by leaders as diverse as Javier Solana, then Secretary General of NATO, and US President George W. Bush, is as valid …
By AFP DOHA: The International Union of Muslim Scholars, headed by Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, on Monday criticized France for denying the influential cleric a visa, but said it respects the sovereign decision. Egyptian-born Qaradawi, 86, has been invited to visit next month by the Union of Islamic Organizations in France (UOIF). “We are surprised, and …
By AFP PARIS: President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday that influential Qatar-based Sunni Muslim cleric Yusuf Al-Qaradawi was not welcome in France. Egyptian-born Qaradawi, 86, has been invited to visit next month by the Union of Islamic Organizations in France (UOIF). “I told the emir of Qatar himself that this gentleman was not welcome in the …
By Pauline Froissart / AFP PARIS: Muslims in French suburbs remain vulnerable to extremist indoctrination but those lured into radicalism are an “ultra-minority” and the spread of jihadism is declining, experts say. Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old suspected Al-Qaeda militant of Algerian descent was killed Thursday following a shootout with police, after being linked to seven murders …
By Laurent Lozano / AFP TOULOUSE: French police kept up pressure Thursday as the siege of a self-proclaimed Al-Qaeda militant entered a second day, but officials admitted they were not certain he was still alive. Blasts and gunshots were heard overnight near the flat in Toulouse in southern France where the gunman suspected of killing seven …
By Laurent Lozano and Alex Peyrille / AFP TOULOUSE: France launched a massive manhunt for a serial killer on Tuesday, as the nation’s schools observed a minute of silence for the three Jewish children and the teacher he gunned down. President Nicolas Sarkozy paid silent homage to the victims at a school in Paris close to …
NEW YORK: France’s fines on women for wearing the full-face covering niqab, imposed for the first time by a court Thursday, are a "travesty of justice," Amnesty International said. Police have issued several on-the-spot fines since the ban came into force in April but the hearing saw the first two court-issued fines, and the Muslim …
MEAUX: A French police court slapped fines on women for wearing the full-face veil (niqab) for the first time Thursday, in a case that could have legal implications across Europe. Police have issued several on-the-spot fines since the ban came into effect in April but the hearing saw the first two court-issued fines, and the …
