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09-09-2016, 05:00 AM
PARIS: President Francois Hollande said on Thursday that Islam could co-exist with secularism, warning in a key speech seen as preparing the ground for a re-election bid that the anti-terror fight should **t undermine French values.
The deeply unpopular Hollande has yet to an**unce whether he will run for a second term next year, but is widely expected to be a candidate.
In a speech on terrorism and democracy in Paris he defended the country’s Muslim mi**rity following a vitriolic debate on the banning of the Islamic burkini swimsuit.
"**thing in the idea of secularism opposes the practice of Islam in France, provided it respects the law," Hollande said.
Secularism was **t a "state religion" to be used against other religions, he said, de**uncing the "stigmatisation of Muslims."
Mayors in around 30 French towns this summer cited the country’s century-old secular laws in banning head-to-toe swimwear on their beaches, unleashing a furore.
Several of the towns later revoked the bans after France’s highest administrative court ruled they were a "serious" violation of basic freedoms.
Hollande rejected calls by conservatives, including his arch-rival, former president Nicolas Sarkozy, for a ban on the burkini, saying it would be "unconstitutional".
As to whether Islam can co-exist with a secular French state, like Christianity and Judaism do, he insisted: "My answer is yes, certainly."
"The question the Republic must answer is: Is it really ready to embrace a religion that it did **t expect to be this big over a century ago. There too, my answer is yes, certainly."
In a wide-ranging speech Hollande cast himself as the defender of democracy in the face of a string of terror attacks that have left over 230 people dead since January 2015.
The government has responded by deploying thousands of troops to patrol the streets, enacting a raft of anti-terror laws and repeatedly extending a state of emergency -- measures deemed insufficient by the conservative opposition.
Hollande warned that France could **t sacrifice its core values of liberty, equality and fraternity.
"Did the Patriot Act and Guantanamo protect Americans from the terrorist threat? **," he said, alluding to calls by Sarkozy for terror suspects to be interned in camps.
"Democracy is our ******" Hollande insisted.
Polls predict the Socialist leader would suffer a humiliating defeat if he threw his hat in the ring again after five years marked by stubbornly high unemployment and only timid attempts at reform.
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The deeply unpopular Hollande has yet to an**unce whether he will run for a second term next year, but is widely expected to be a candidate.
In a speech on terrorism and democracy in Paris he defended the country’s Muslim mi**rity following a vitriolic debate on the banning of the Islamic burkini swimsuit.
"**thing in the idea of secularism opposes the practice of Islam in France, provided it respects the law," Hollande said.
Secularism was **t a "state religion" to be used against other religions, he said, de**uncing the "stigmatisation of Muslims."
Mayors in around 30 French towns this summer cited the country’s century-old secular laws in banning head-to-toe swimwear on their beaches, unleashing a furore.
Several of the towns later revoked the bans after France’s highest administrative court ruled they were a "serious" violation of basic freedoms.
Hollande rejected calls by conservatives, including his arch-rival, former president Nicolas Sarkozy, for a ban on the burkini, saying it would be "unconstitutional".
As to whether Islam can co-exist with a secular French state, like Christianity and Judaism do, he insisted: "My answer is yes, certainly."
"The question the Republic must answer is: Is it really ready to embrace a religion that it did **t expect to be this big over a century ago. There too, my answer is yes, certainly."
In a wide-ranging speech Hollande cast himself as the defender of democracy in the face of a string of terror attacks that have left over 230 people dead since January 2015.
The government has responded by deploying thousands of troops to patrol the streets, enacting a raft of anti-terror laws and repeatedly extending a state of emergency -- measures deemed insufficient by the conservative opposition.
Hollande warned that France could **t sacrifice its core values of liberty, equality and fraternity.
"Did the Patriot Act and Guantanamo protect Americans from the terrorist threat? **," he said, alluding to calls by Sarkozy for terror suspects to be interned in camps.
"Democracy is our ******" Hollande insisted.
Polls predict the Socialist leader would suffer a humiliating defeat if he threw his hat in the ring again after five years marked by stubbornly high unemployment and only timid attempts at reform.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~4/BzncftMHgwE
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~3/BzncftMHgwE/148870-Islam-can-co-exist-with-French-values)