 ROME - Italy wants to tighten controls on foreign cash arriving to build mosques and is studying a French proposal to create a state-backed foundation to filter religious funds for Muslims, the interior minister has said. Giuliano Amato told Italian reporters that Rome currently had little control over money coming into the country -- especially from foreign governments -- to help build mosques. He did not name any countries. “I find the spread of mosques with cash from governments of other countries unacceptable ... I want to understand who is financing what in our country,” Amato was quoted as saying in La Stampa newspaper on Friday.
| Strange attitude for an interior minister, huh? |
“I am studying, exactly like the French are doing, the hypothesis of creating a foundation that has a national component,” he said. The French fund would be run by a board of Islamic leaders with an Interior Ministry representative.
| As the article notes elsewhere, that French fund, while announced, isn't yet in operation. How typically Phrench. |
Amato also said he wanted to make sure teachers in Islamic schools were properly qualified.
| You mean the state isn't already certifying teachers in Italy? What kind of socialist paradise is this anyway? |
Italy’s right-wing opposition applauded the move, with outspoken former reforms minister Roberto Calderoli saying Amato should also limit “the numbers and strange activities” of Islamic cultural centres.
But Omar Camiletti, a spokesman for the Rome Mosque, one of Europe’s largest, criticised the proposal. He said the government should be looking instead to better integrate Muslims into Italian society, instead of restricting their charities. “I think it (Amato’s concern) is wrong-headed,” Camiletti told Reuters. “You must not hinder charitable assistance from international organisations or from individuals. This is a principle of our open society.”
| You can do all the charity you like as long as you obey the law. And if any of the money is going to the Widows Ammunition Fund we're going to have to have a talk. |
Mario Scialoja, of the Italian Muslim League, played down any controversy, saying Amato had “every right” to seek restrictions. “I think they are concerned that funds might be flowing, not so much from governments, but Islamic associations which might be used for unclear purposes. So they are quite right to check,” Scialoja told Reuters, adding his groups would be unaffected.
| Is that a moderate Muslim I see? |
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