The official French umbrella group for Muslims, the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) is angry that the Sarkozy Government appears to be encouraging the formation of a rival secular representative body.
The CFCM was originally set up in 2003 by President Nicolas Sarkozy when he was interior minister. The intention was to give a representative voice to the estimated six or seven million French Muslims. But now the CFCM thinks that Sarkozy considers them too powerful and influential and is seeking to establish the rival organisation to act as a curb.
Malika Belarabi, an Algerian-born deputy governor of Seine-Saint-Denis district in Paris, who is one of the leading lights behind the plans for a secular Muslim council says that it is well advanced. Previous efforts to establish such a council have failed, but Belarabi is convinced that this time it will get off the ground. “The idea is to bring together all Arab and Muslim groups of secular nature within one framework,” he said. “The goal is to set up a body similar to the one which represents secular French Jews; Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF).” Read more ...
The CFCM was originally set up in 2003 by President Nicolas Sarkozy when he was interior minister. The intention was to give a representative voice to the estimated six or seven million French Muslims. But now the CFCM thinks that Sarkozy considers them too powerful and influential and is seeking to establish the rival organisation to act as a curb.
Malika Belarabi, an Algerian-born deputy governor of Seine-Saint-Denis district in Paris, who is one of the leading lights behind the plans for a secular Muslim council says that it is well advanced. Previous efforts to establish such a council have failed, but Belarabi is convinced that this time it will get off the ground. “The idea is to bring together all Arab and Muslim groups of secular nature within one framework,” he said. “The goal is to set up a body similar to the one which represents secular French Jews; Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF).” Read more ...
Source: National Secular Society
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