LYON, France, 23 May 2004 — A Muslim cleric returned to France from Algeria yesterday after a court overturned his deportation over a comment that Islam allowed husbands to beat unfaithful wives, airport officials said.
Abdelkader Bouziane arrived at Lyon airport a month after he was deported on April 21. A local appeals court ruled days after his departure that he could return, saying the government had not justified the deportation.
Bouziane, an imam in the Lyon suburb of Venissieux, made his comments in the monthly magazine Lyon Mag. He later said he was stating a fact and not giving his opinion. Police met Bouziane at the airport and told him his comments were being investigated to determine whether they amounted to incitement to violence, the airport officials said.
Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said earlier this week that France aims to change its rules governing foreign residents so that Muslim preachers from abroad who advocate violence against women can be deported.
