MINISTER REJECTS LETTER WARNING OF `CIVIL WAR'

France's interior minister has condemned a new open letter to Emmanuel Macron from scores of serving military personnel, warning of impending civil war at the hands of Islamists, as a “crude manoeuvre” by the far-right.

Gerald Darmanin dismissed the letter, which includes dire warnings of societal collapse and army intervention, as a blatant attempt to boost the far-right before regional and presidential elections and called on the anonymous signatories to have the “bravery” to identify themselves.

In all, 145,000 people, a mixture of military personnel and civilians, had endorsed the second letter by Monday afternoon and 1.7 million people had read it.

An initial letter released two weeks ago by a group of semi-retired generals and mostly retired officers made similar claims that France was heading for “disintegration” and “civil war.”

The armed forces are taking disciplinary action against at least 18 serving personnel.