France has rejected a U.S.-based Jewish group's call for legal action against one of the country's largest Muslim organisations that it says is anti-Semitic and is linked to the militant Islamist group Hamas. Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said Paris had proved it was tough on Islamic radicals by questioning about 100 so far this year and expelling 17 of them. But he declined to follow up a call by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre to probe links between the Union of French Islamic Organisations (UOIF) and pro-Palestinian groups it says collect money for Hamas and to replace the UOIF leadership. "We must avoid stigmatising anyone or jumping to conclusions," he told Europe 1 radio on Sunday. "It's clear the state is being tough, but it's not its role to jump to conclusions."
UOIF Secretary General Fouad Alaoui accused the Centre of wanting to block the integration of Muslims into French society. "I defy anyone to prove the UOIF has anti-Semitic positions," said Alaoui, whose group -- popular with disaffected Muslim youths in France -- is said to be close to the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood.
| "It's all a lie, spread by the Jews!" |
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