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France, Despite Opposition to Iraq War, Is Not Immune
France is seen by many Americans as a reluctant ally, at best, in President Bush's war on terror.
| I favor "unindicted co-conspiritor", but that's just me. |
But a new hostage crisis has made clear that the Gallic nation, with western Europe's largest Muslim population, is not immune to threats from radical Islam.
| "Muslim population" and "threats from radical Islam" kinda go together, don't they? |
As French diplomats scrambled to save two journalists held hostage in Iraq, the government defied captors' demands to scrap a new law banning Muslim head scarves in public schools. "The law will be applied" when school doors open on Thursday, government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope said.
| Good for the Frenchies... |
Muslim leaders at home and abroad rallied around France with statements of support and calls on the Islamic Army of Iraq to release the journalists. Rebel Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's lieutenants added their voices Tuesday to the calls for the release of the newsmen, calling their abduction "inhumane and immoral."
| "They're on our side! Back off!" |
"Such acts defame Islam and Muslims in general," said Ali al-Yasiri, an al-Sadr representative in Baghdad. "To fight in a battlefield is OK, but to kill a civilian or journalist is blasphemy."
Posted by: Steve 2004-08-31 |
