French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Wednesday that he has ordered the authorities of the western department of Sarthe to close a local mosque due to its possible encouragement of Islamist extremism
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th October, 2021) French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Wednesday that he has ordered the authorities of the western department of Sarthe to close a local mosque due to its possible encouragement of Islamist extremism.
"On my instruction, the prefecture of Sarthe has launched the closure of the Allonnes mosque, near (the city of) Le Mans. In particular, the sermons advocate 'the use of armed jihad, death as a martyr, the commission of acts of terrorism and the use of violence,'" Darmanin tweeted.
The Muslim place of worship is under the management of two local organizations and has some 300 regular attendees, including individuals "close to or professing the ideology of radical Islamism," according to the France Bleu broadcaster, citing the prefecture.
The mosque also reportedly served as a place of the so-called Koranic school, which taught around 110 children lessons encouraging armed jihad.
The specific date of the closure remains unclear.
