BRUSSELS: France will expel foreign-born radical religious imams from its territory as part of a fight against “global jihadism”, French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said on Tuesday.
“Several radical foreign preachers will be expelled in the coming days,” Valls said in a Brussels conference called to tackle extremism in Europe. However, he didn’t identify any of the individuals concerned.
“I don’t confuse this radical Islam with the Islam of France but there is a religious environment, there are Salafist groupings, who are involved in a political process, whose aim is to monopolise cultural associations, the schooling system,” he said.
“We will expel all these imams, all these foreign preachers who denigrate women, who hold views that run counter to our values and who say there is a need to combat France”, the minister added. “We have to be extremely firm and that I will be.”
DND
