Govt seeks influence over mosques to stop jihadists

Dozens of prominent French Muslims and Prime Minister Manuel Valls have called for a national drive to promote mainstream Islam and combat the radicalisation of young Muslims. They issued separate appeals in the Journal du Dimanche (JDD) newspaper, as France remains in shock from the murder of a priest by Islamist extremists last week. The […]

Dozens of prominent French Muslims and Prime Minister Manuel Valls have called for a national drive to promote mainstream Islam and combat the radicalisation of young Muslims.
They issued separate appeals in the Journal du Dimanche (JDD) newspaper, as France remains in shock from the murder of a priest by Islamist extremists last week.
The 41 prominent Muslims and Mr Valls said a French Muslim foundation set up in 2005 must be relaunched.
Mr Valls’s stance drew some criticism.
In 2004 the French government said the country’s imams must all learn French and widen their education because, it argued, a majority of them were from outside France.