As France prepares to honour a policeman killed in the latest attack by a homegrown jihadist, debate has again flared over how to counter the influence of radical Salafist interpretations of Islam, with some officials urging an outright ban.
In the wake of Friday's shootings by Radouane Lakdim, officials disclosed his links starting in 2013 with "the Salafist movement", a Sunni Muslim branch originating in Saudi Arabia which promotes a strict conservative lifestyle.
While a majority of Salafists disdain violence as they adher to the fundamentalist traditions of "pious ancestors", some of its followers embrace using force to promote their beliefs.
"It's not about forbidding a religion or even an idea, but I'm saying very clearly that we must forbid the spread of Salafism, because it's the enemy," former Socialist prime minister Manuel Valls said in a radio interview Tuesday. [AFP] Read more
