PARIS,
August 22, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The French Ministry of Interior
has backtracked on plans that would have seen “radical” imams
deported en masse and opted for a case-by-case evaluation, well-placed
sources have told IslamOnline.net.
“The
ministry fears that the mass deportation would backfire at the end of
the day,” the sources, who requested anonymity, said Sunday, August
21.
IOL
further learnt that the deportation will not be limited to imams but
will target Salafists and others joining organizations notorious for
inciting hatred.
IOL
can also confirm that three mosques in Paris’ Ménilmontant, Mira
and Staint districts will be placed under close police scrutiny.
The
French Council of Imams earlier in the month stopped deportation
procedures of a French imam of Tunisian origin, who was blacklisted
for expulsion by the ministry.
Interior
Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has said that police would be granted extra
powers to expel more “radical” imams from the country in the wake
of the July 7 London bombings, which killed 56 people including four
British-born Muslim bombers.
He
said dozens of “hatred-inciting” preachers would be deported in
August under existing laws.
French
authorities expelled in July imams Reda Ameuroud and Abdelhamid
Aissaoui to their native Algeria for reportedly encouraging violence
in their sermons.
Backlash
Secretary
General of the French Council of Imams Daw Meskine agreed that the
French move is driven by a potential Muslim backlash over unjust
deportations.
He
told IOL that the Council, an umbrella group with up to 400 imams,
will demand from Sarkozy to be consulted first before taking any
action against imams.
Haidar
Demirik, a Council official, added that imam deportations will be high
on the agenda of the Council’s next meeting early in September.
Imams
across Europe have been placed under the microscope after the London
attacks.
Homes
of imams in several European countries, notably Italy, have been
raided by plainclothes officers and dozens others have been deported
to their home countries.
The
issue of imams training has also taken central stage in Europe.
The
French government has put forward an initiative to educate newcomers
about the history of secularism in France.
