Dozens of mosques raided as Macron vows to get tough on Islamist extremism

France’s embattled interior minister yesterday announced raids on dozens of mosques suspected of Islamist extremism following President Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to fight ‘‘separatism’’ in the wake of terror attacks.

Gerald Darmanin said 76 mosques out of more than 2600 Muslim places of worship had been flagged as possible threats to French Republican values and security.

Any mosque found to be fomenting extremism would be closed down, he added.

Eighteen of the 76 are in the Paris area and 18 face imminent closure, according to reports.

‘‘There are in some concentrated areas places of worship which are clearly anti-republican [where] imams are followed by the intelligence services and where the discourse runs counter to our values,’’ Darmanin said.

Investigators would probe the mosques’ funding and the background of imams deemed suspicious. The Right-wing minister insisted the relatively small number of mosques targeted showed ‘‘we are far from a situation of widespread radicalisation’’. ‘‘Nearly all Muslims in France respect the laws of the Republic and are hurt by that [radicalisation],’’ he said.

The raids are part of a response to two recent attacks that appalled France – the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty and the deadly stabbing of three people in a church in Nice. In the aftermath, authorities raided dozens of Islamic sports groups, charities and associations suspected of promoting extremism.

The French president has warned of the growing menace of ‘‘Islamist separatism’’ and its challenge to France’s staunchly secular Republic.

The freedom of belief, gender equality and the right to blaspheme was threatened in certain areas, Macron has warned, citing claims of children from conservative Muslim families being taken out of school, and sports and cultural groups being used to indoctrinate youth.

To combat this, his government will next week table a new bill on ‘‘bolstering the principles of the Republic’’. Among its proposed measures are to give each child a unique identity number to ensure they are attending school and not in ‘‘the clutches of Islamists’’, as Darmanin put it.

It would also make it a crime to intimidate public servants on religious grounds and would crack down on online hate speech by enabling judges to hold fast-track trials of terror suspects.

The draft bill also introduces jail terms and fines for doctors who provide controversial ‘‘virginity certificates’’ for traditional religious marriages. Those caught handing them out face a year in jail and a fine of €15,000 (NZ$25,800).

Some media suggested Darmanin’s raids announcement was part of a plan to deflect massive criticism over his handling of claims of police brutality caught on camera in recent days. The controversy forced the ruling party to revise a divisive bill restricting filming of the police. - Telegraph Group