The French Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin embarks on the hunt for the imams of France. A list of preachers to be expelled is being prepared.
“Are there other Iquioussen imams? […] The answer is yes, ”claimed Gérald Darmanin, quoted by Médiapart. Iquioussen has thus become a generic name designating imams with characteristics identical to the man, of his full name Hassan Iquioussen, who disappeared in nature last week. His flight has since fueled the controversy around these preachers, many of whom have apparently become persona non grata in France.
Darmanin announces that the list includes nearly a hundred “preachers, presidents or agitators of associations” who might be expelled from France, stressing that terrorism continues to be one of the main priorities of his ministry, indicates the newspaper French Mediapart.
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The residence permit renewals of suspected imams are being postponed, which is interpreted as a sign of the Interior Ministry’s intention to expel imams from Franc, reports the same source.
The General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) has thus embarked on the hunt for personalities who are close to the Muslim Brotherhood and the former Union of Islamic Organizations in France, such as the Tunisian imam Ahmed Jaballah, the main wanted.
Accused of advocating hate speech, “anti-Semitism” and promoting a “vision of Islam contradicting the values of the Republic”, the Franco-Moroccan imam Hassan Iquioussen was arrested by expulsion, in July, by Darmanin’s ministry.
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France issued a European arrest warrant for d’Iquioussen following French authorities failed to get hold of the imam, the deportation has not been carried out to date.
Iquioussen’s lawyer, Lucie Simon, said her client poses no threat to the security of France. For her, it is a political twist” from the Ministry of the Interior.
