Muslim leaders' demand to double the number of mosques in France within two years causes anger.
A call by Muslim leaders for the number of mosques in France to be doubled has aggravated community tensions barely three months after the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
"We have 2,200 mosques and we need double that within two years," the Rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Dalil Boubakeur, told applauding French Muslims at a conference.
Many Muslims believe local authorities in France block applications to open or build mosques and prayer-rooms, leading to overcrowding and protests over prayers held in the streets.
However, the conservative daily Le Figaro said the comments by Dr Boubakeur, generally considered a moderate, were "provocative".
The paper said he and other "mainstream" Muslim leaders had "lost control" of increasingly radical young French Muslims and "it is not the mass construction of new mosques that will change things". [The Telegraph] Read more
