31 March 2017

Muslims protest with street prayer in Paris suburb

Hemmed in and closely watched by police, hundreds of Muslims unrolled rugs and prayed outdoors Friday in the busy streets of a Paris suburb to protest the closure of their prayer hall.

The show of strength by throngs of worshippers in Clichy highlighted a long-standing issue for France's Muslim community, estimated at 5 million people: a shortage of mosques.

Such protests aren't without risk of a backlash, especially in the politically heated atmosphere of France's upcoming presidential election. Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has previously decried street prayers, part of her anti-immigrant, anti-Islam outlook.

Clichy Muslims had been using a prayer hall rented from City Hall. But the town's mayor now wants to turn that space into a multimedia library for the town's 60,000 residents. [Associated Press] Read more