Police shut a mosque east of Paris and arrested the owner of a revolver found in related raids on Wednesday as part of a crackdown called after the Nov. 13 attacks on the capital, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
He told journalists authorities had already closed two mosques last week - the first time France has taken such action against places of worship suspected of nurturing religious extremism. He later also revealed to lawmakers in parliament the closure of a fourth mosque in the riviera city of Nice.
Security officers found extremist documents at the mosque where Wednesday's raids took place and at related premises in Lagny-sur-Marne, placed a total of nine people under house arrest and banned another 22 from leaving the country, Cazeneuve said. France, which declared a state of emergency after the extremist attacks on Paris, has so far raided 2,235 homes and buildings, taken 232 people into custody and confiscated 334 weapons, 34 of them war-grade, Cazeneuve told reporters. "In 15 days we have seized one-third of the quantity of war-grade weapons that are normally seized in a year," Cazeneuve said. The other two mosques closed last week were in Gennevilliers, northwest of Paris, and in the southeastern city of Lyon, he added.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Hassan El Alaoui, one of the country's chief imams, said more than 160 mosques may be closed in the coming months "as part of a nationwide police operation." The reasons for closure are not limited to extremist speech, but also to the lack of proper licenses according to Al Jazeera. The website also reported that there are fears of persecution among France's Muslim population, the largest in Europe, because of the deadly attacks claimed by DAESH. Several communities and political figures emphasize that it is vital to avoid stereotyping a religious group because of those who joined armed groups such as DAESH.
