PARIS, 19 September 2003 — French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to expel Muslim clerics espousing hard-line views and to close mosques preaching Islamic fundamentalism, in an interview published yesterday.
While insisting he is open to dialogue with France’s five-million strong Muslim community, Sarkozy told Le Figaro that he would not hesitate to take strong action if necessary.
“Mosques where fundamentalism is preached will be shut down, imams that express radical views will be expelled and speakers who do not guarantee respect for the Republic’s rules will see their entrance visas refused,” he said.
“I do not negotiate with extremists. I have a dialogue with the Muslim community in France as it is, in all its diversity,” the tough-talking interior minister added.
“There are five million Muslims in France. Whether that makes people happy or not, it’s a reality.”
Sarkozy made a similar statement in mid-April, after the hard-line Union of Islamic Organizations in France (UOIF) made a strong showing in elections to France’s fledgling Muslim council.
“We want to rid Islam in France of foreign influences,” the minister told Europe 1 radio. “Imams who make statements that run contrary to the values of the Republic will be deported.”
Liberals have criticized the UOIF, saying it has close links with the Muslim Brotherhood — the originally Egyptian movement which calls for Islamic rule via personal purification and political action — and should have no official place in a secular country like France.
