CAIRO: France's President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday that influential and popular Egyptian preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi was “not welcome” in France. Sarkozy was speaking four days after an Islamist gunman who admitted to killing 7 people in southwest France was shot dead in a gunfight with police. Mohamed Merah, a Frenchman of Algerian origin, claimed to have received terrorism training in Pakistan. Al-Qaradawi, a well-known Sunni Muslim cleric with links to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, had been invited to a meeting of the Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF) next month. Sarkozy said he had told the emir of Qatar “this man is not welcome on the territory of the French Republic.” Al-Qaradawi has a diplomatic passport from Qatar, according to Sarkozy. The statement has shocked much of the Middle East, especially here in Cairo, where many Islamic leaders are not sure what to make of the move. “I don't get it because Qaradawi, even though he is conservative, has never been supportive of violence,” said an al-Azhar professor. He added to Bikyamasr.com that he was concerned that France was responding to the attack “of one man” as a means “to attack and entire religion.” He said it was “unacceptable.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/KqX4c Tags: Egypt, featured, France, Islam, Qaradawi Section: Egypt, Latest News, Religion, Western Europe
