French religious leaders call for reinforced security
PARIS — Religious leaders in France gathered on Wednesday (July 27) and called for authorities to boost security at places of worship after jihadists killed a priest in a Normandy church.
PARIS — Religious leaders in France gathered on Wednesday (July 27) and called for authorities to boost security at places of worship after jihadists killed a priest in a Normandy church.
“We deeply desire that our places of worship are the subject of greater (security) focus, a sustained focus,” said French Muslim leader Dalil Boubakeur, after meeting with President Francois Hollande.
Mr Hollande gathered with the leaders of the country’s main religions at his Elysee Palace offices, a day after two attackers stormed a church in the northern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during morning mass, slitting the throat of an 86-year-old priest.
“We are stunned because we did not know it was dangerous to be a priest these days in France,” said Pierre Amar, a priest from Versailles.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls has warned that the goal of the attack, claimed by Islamic State jihadists, was to “set the French people against each other, attack religion in order to start a war of religions”.
Mr Boubakeur, speaking in the name of French Muslims, voiced his “deep grief” at the attack which he described as a “blasphemous sacrilege which goes against all the teachings of our religion.”
The attack, claimed by IS jihadists, comes less than two weeks after Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a truck into a crowd in the Riviera city of Nice, killing 84 people and injuring over 300.
The third major strike on France in 18 months prompted a bitter political spat over alleged security failings, with renewed opposition calls to further harden France’s anti-terrorism legislation.
But Socialist Hollande — who faces a tough re-election bid next year — rejected them, saying: “Restricting our freedoms will not make the fight against terrorism more effective.”
Changes made to legislation in 2015, and the extension of a state of emergency in the wake of the Nice attack, already gave authorities sufficient “capacity to act”, he said.
One of the two attackers was identified as French jihadist Adel Kermiche, who was awaiting trial on terror charges and had been fitted with an electronic tag.
But the deputy chief of France’s police union, Frederic Lagache, said: “It should not be possible for someone awaiting trial on charges of having links to terrorism to be released” on house arrest.
Mohammed Karabila, who heads the regional council of Muslim worship for Haute Normandie, where the church attack took place, asked simply: “How could a person wearing an electronic bracelet carry out an attack? Where are the police?”
Mr Kermiche and another assailant entered the centuries-old stone church of Saint Etienne, taking hostage the priest, Jacques Hamel, three nuns and two worshippers.
One of the nuns managed to escape and call police, who tried to negotiate with the hostage-takers.
The nun, Sister Danielle, told local radio RMC that the men were speaking Arabic and shouting, and had “recorded” the attack.
Three hostages were lined up in front of the church door, meaning police could not launch an assault, said Molins.
Two nuns and one worshipper left the church followed by the two attackers, one carrying a handgun, who charged at police shouting “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest). Police gunned down the jihadists.
Saint Etienne’s stone-and-brick town hall, a short distance from the church, became a communal grieving place as residents signed a condolence book and left candles and flowers.
A silent march will set off from the town hall on Thursday.
Outside Saint Etienne’s Yahya Mosque — which sits on land donated by the adjacent Sainte Therese church — Mr Karabila said his community had “never had problems with the authorities or the neighbours”.
He added: “Here we don’t preach hatred or we would be shut down.”
Meanwhile, countries in the Middle East have condemned the church attack. Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia called the attack a “cowardly terrorist act”, it said in a statement.
“(It) is rejected by Islam, which necessitates protecting places of worship and prohibits violating their sacredness,” said the statement published on the official SPA news agency.
Saudi Arabia, a member of the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq, bans churches and all other non-Muslim places of worship.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also condemned the attack in France, saying it only aims to “spread sedition and fuel hatred”.
“This shocking crime reveals the lowness of its perpetrators and those behind them,” the UAE said, urging world countries to “work decisively and without hesitation to confront terrorism in all its forms.”
Neighbouring Gulf states Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar have issued similar statements condemning the attack. AFP