France to investigate mosques suspected of radicalisation

French authorities will investigate mosques and prayer halls suspected of radical teachings as part of a crackdown on Islamist extremists following a string of attacks in the country, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said.

If any prayer hall was found to promote extremism it would be closed down, Gérald Darmanin told TRL Radio.

He said: “There are in some concentrated areas places of worship that are clearly anti-Republican where imams are followed by the intelligence services and where the discourse runs counter to our values”.

He added that “we are far from a situation of widespread radicalisation”, as only a fraction of the mosques in France were suspected of preaching radical theories.

He said: “Nearly all Muslims in France respect the laws of the Republic and are hurt by that (radicalisation)."

76 mosques out of the more than 2,600 Muslim places of worship had been highlighted as possible threats to France’s Republican values and its security. Investigators will dig into the mosques’ financing, the background of imams and search for evidence, among other things, of Koranic schools for young children.