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April 24, 2006

France: Islam Becomes Center Of Political Row

We reported on Saturday how a book, to be published this week, claims that at least 50 extreme Islamists have been identified by French Frontier police as working in baggage-handling at Charles de Gaulle airport. The news alarmed the political establishment, prompting Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy to visit the airport, which is 14 miles outside Paris.

The author is Philippe de Villiers (pictured), and his book is entitled The Mosques of Roissy. Roissy is a name given to the airport. The 59-year old author is not just a scribe. He is head of a political party, the Mouvement pour la France, of the right wing, and was born a Viscount. He is a deputy in the French National Assembly. In 1981, he resigned from a political post, because he would not work for Francois Mitterand.

Now, Agence France Presse, via Expatica reports that his claims have ignited a political storm. Sud Aerien, an airport workers' union called his disclosure "a political stunt by a future candidate." The Socialist Party and the French Council of the Muslim Faith condemned de Villiers as an "Islamophobe".

The Mouvement pour la France garners support from the Catholic and nationalistic participants in French politics. Though in previous elections having a low vote, comprising 5 to 8 per cent of the electorate, it seems that M. de Villiers is working towards a bigger electoral result in next year's elections. Already his party is characterized by its opposition to the European Union. Their slogan is "Giving Back France".

De Villers' book describes Islam as a threat to France, and states of the luggage-handling facilities at 'Roissy' that they employ "predominantly Muslims and are organised on ethnic and religious criteria under a mafia-like system."

In an interview yesterday, he said "The presence of Islamic radicals is not marginal, it's real, deeply-rooted and dangerous."

One document cited among the evidence which de Villiers produced in his book has been cast as suspicious by one branch of France's security and intelligence services. Pascal Mailhos, director of the Renseignements Generaux told the Interior Ministry in a memorandum that the document was misattributed to his service, and that it contained "several flagrant inconsistencies."

Despite this, and the condemnations from Sud Arien, and also from Dalil Boubakeur of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, we showed on Saturday that the true figure for the suspect Islamists was admitted by Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy was in fact higher than the 50 claimed in his book. Sarkozy admitted there were 122 individuals who were "more or less suspect".

The comments by Pascal Mailhos appeared in the notoriously left-wing newspaper via a leak. Dalil Boubakeur, who is also imam of a mosque, had said of Villiers' comments concerning the airport security and style of union affairs, said they were "an outrageous caricature" of Islam, and demanded an investigation.

The furor over the book came as the state-owned operator of the airports around Paris announced that it was preparing for possible privatisation, should the government consent. Last Friday, the finance ministry announced sales of shares in the group.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 24, 2006 5:52 PM

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Posted by: Batavian.Warrior at April 24, 2006 7:03 PM

Posted by: Giraldus Cambrensis at April 24, 2006 9:03 PM

Posted by: Batavian.Warrior at April 24, 2006 11:48 PM

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