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SARKOZY TO BAR RADICAL MUSLIM PREACHERS FROM ENTERING FRANCE
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 26, 2012 - 14:52 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - France will bar radical Muslim preachers from
entering the country to participate in an Islamic conference next
month as part of a crackdown after shootings by an al Qaeda-inspired
gunman, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday, March 26.
According to Reuters, Sarkozy, who has announced plans to punish
those viewing Islamist Web sites and going abroad for indoctrination,
said he would block the entry of some imams invited to a congress
organized by the Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF).
The UOIF, one of three Muslim federations in France, is regarded as
close to Egypt's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.
"I have clearly indicated that there certain people who have been
invited to this congress who are not welcome on French soil," Sarkozy
told France Info radio.
He cited Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian cleric based in
Qatar who is one of the most prominent Sunni Muslim clerics in the
Arab world and a household name in the Middle East due to regular
appearances on the Al Jazeera news channel.
A former member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Qaradawi is independent
of the group but remains close to it. Sarkozy said the situation was
complicated because the imam holds a diplomatic passport and does
not require a visa to enter France.
"I indicated to the Emir of Qatar himself that this person was not
welcome on the territory of the French republic," Sarkozy said. "He
will not come."
Qaradawi was denied a visa to visit Britain in 2008 on grounds of
seeking to "justify acts of terrorist violence or disburse views that
could foster inter-community violence", a Home Office spokeswoman said
at the time. The cleric had defended Palestinian suicide bombers in
Israel and attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 26, 2012 - 14:52 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - France will bar radical Muslim preachers from
entering the country to participate in an Islamic conference next
month as part of a crackdown after shootings by an al Qaeda-inspired
gunman, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday, March 26.
According to Reuters, Sarkozy, who has announced plans to punish
those viewing Islamist Web sites and going abroad for indoctrination,
said he would block the entry of some imams invited to a congress
organized by the Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF).
The UOIF, one of three Muslim federations in France, is regarded as
close to Egypt's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.
"I have clearly indicated that there certain people who have been
invited to this congress who are not welcome on French soil," Sarkozy
told France Info radio.
He cited Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian cleric based in
Qatar who is one of the most prominent Sunni Muslim clerics in the
Arab world and a household name in the Middle East due to regular
appearances on the Al Jazeera news channel.
A former member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Qaradawi is independent
of the group but remains close to it. Sarkozy said the situation was
complicated because the imam holds a diplomatic passport and does
not require a visa to enter France.
"I indicated to the Emir of Qatar himself that this person was not
welcome on the territory of the French republic," Sarkozy said. "He
will not come."
Qaradawi was denied a visa to visit Britain in 2008 on grounds of
seeking to "justify acts of terrorist violence or disburse views that
could foster inter-community violence", a Home Office spokeswoman said
at the time. The cleric had defended Palestinian suicide bombers in
Israel and attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.