Police raid homes of suspected Islamic radicals

PARIS - French police have raided the homes of dozens of suspected Islamic radicals following the beheading of a teacher who showed controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils.

Some of those being questioned are believed to have posted messages of support for the killer of Samuel Paty.

The government also said it was investigating 51 French Muslim associations. Police shot dead Paty's suspected killer on Friday in a Paris suburb.

Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin yesterday said the operations sent a message that there was "no respite for enemies of the republic," and that they were expected to continue all week.

Meanwhile, police will interview about 80 people who are believed to have posted messages in support of Paty's killer, Darmanin added.

The government said if Muslim organisations under investigation were found to promote hatred, they would be closed down.

Paty was murdered in the Paris suburb Conflans- Sainte-Honorine. An 18-year-old born in Moscow of Chechen origin was shot dead by police on Friday.

Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-François Ricard said Paty had been the target of threats since he showed the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a class about freedom of speech.

As he had done in similar lessons in recent years, Paty, a history and geography teacher, advised Muslim students to look away if they thought they might be offended.

Depictions of the Prophet Muhammad can cause serious offence to Muslims because Islamic tradition explicitly forbids images of Muhammad and Allah (God).

The issue is particularly sensitive in France because of the famous publishing of cartoons of Prophet Muhammad by satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. A trial is currently underway over the killing of 12 people by Islamist extremists at the magazine offices in 2015.