France government has ordered the closure of a mosque in Allonnes near Le Mans for harboring ‘radical Islam’ and ‘legitimizing terrorist attacks’. Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said that the managers and imams at the mosque allowed actions that run counter to the ‘values of the Republic’, Opindia reports.
The mosque has been shut down for six months, Darmanin said, adding that the bank accounts of the mosque’s administrators were also seized.
The charges against the mosque include inciting hatred towards France, Westerners, Christians, and Jews. “The sermons propagated in this mosque cultivating hatred toward France,” Darmanin wrote on Twitter, defending the closure. The administration said that apart from hatred and discrimination”, the mosque also promoted “the establishment of sharia” in France.
Along with the mosque, a Quranic school hosted by it also has been closed, saying that “armed jihad” was promoted in the school. A pasted sign on the door of the school said on Wednesday that the classes were “suspended until further notice.”
The French Interior Minister also added that plans are underway to shut down seven more associations or religious buildings by the end of the year. The minister also informed about the closure of 13 religious associations since President Emmanuel Macron took office in Elysee Palace.
