France bans Muslims' street prayers

Sat Sep 17, 2011

The French government has enforced a new law forbidding Muslims from saying their prayers in the streets of the capital of Paris and other cities, Press TV reports.

French Interior Minister Claude Gueant claimed that the government was trying to protect French secular values by implementing the law, which took effect at midnight on Thursday, ahead of the Muslim Friday prayers, a Press TV correspondent reported on Saturday.

"My vigilance will be unflinching for the law to be applied. Praying in the street ... violates the principles of secularism," he said.

French Muslims disapprove of the ban, saying there is not enough space for them to pray in the mosques.

"I have been praying here every Friday for 15 years. We just want to practice our religion and we need more mosques," a French Muslim said.

"There is no need to have so many police here. They should have just informed people that the mosque is closed. That's all we need because we respect the law," another prayer said, referring to policemen surrounding the area.

"We are still in the street. We are still without a roof. One hour before lunch time prayer, it was already full," one prayer complained.

There are only a limited number of mosques in France -- which has the biggest Muslim population in Europe -- leading Muslims to attend prayers at about a dozen street locations across the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/199673.html.