France: Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve intends to close down 100 Mosques!

The implementation of the so-called “Cazeneuve law” will lead to the closure of hundreds of mosques and Islamic associations in France and the expulsion of imams who preach violence and hatred.

In the aftermath of the deadly terror attacks in Paris, the French Minister of the Interior, Bernard Cazeneuve, stated that a projected dissolution of radical mosques, where imams call for extremism and hatred, will be studied by the French council of Ministers and this contingency plan should be implemented in the strongest terms, ‘he said.

The President of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, Mr Anwar Kbibech told “Echorouk” from Paris, that this plan could lead to the closure of nearly 100 mosques in France given that they have been classified by the French Ministry of the Interior as fostering extremism.

He however argued that a law-abiding state like that of France can take action against those people who urge hatred and violence and one should not confuse the issue by collectively punishing, through these untoward coercive measures, all the peaceful Muslim community which has to all intents and purposes nothing to do with violence and extremism.

On the other hand, he praised the sustained efforts and the paramount role of the imams of the 2.500 mosques across France in guiding the community onto the right path, stressing that the Council, like the French Government, is striving to combat and to stamp out all forms of extremism.

In the same context, Samir Chaâbna, an Algerian MP representing the Algerian community settled in the South of France said for his part that we will respect the decision to close these extremist mosques because, he said, they propagate through their discourse radicalism, leading to a distortion of the genuine Islam, and tarnishing by the same token the brand-image of the Algerian community members living in France.

He further expressed support for this anti-extremism law, arguing that those mosques which breed nefarious “jihadists” are not only detrimental to France itself but also to the Muslim community and Algeria as well.