France bans Muslim gathering over security threats

PARIS — Police on Thursday banned an annual gathering of French Muslims near Paris, citing a major security risk that it might be targeted.“At the request of the Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, I have issued an order prohibiting ‌the 40th ‌edition of the Annual Meeting ‌of ⁠Muslims of France, ⁠from April 3 to April 6 at the Paris–Le Bourget Exhibition Center,” the Paris police chief Patrice Faure said in a post on X.“This decision is ⁠set within a national and ‌international context marked ‌by heightened tensions and an increased ‌level of terrorist alert, risks of ‌public disorder, and the large police presence on the streets in the coming days,” he said.The Annual Gathering of the Muslims of France had been due to take place at Bourget, just north of Paris, from Friday until Monday.The order banning it issued by the Paris police said there was a risk that “small far-right groups” might try to disrupt the event.But the police order said the event was “taking place in a particularly tense international and national context.”The gathering was “exposed to a significant terrorist risk targeting the Muslim community,” it added.The order cited a foiled bid last weekend to bomb the Bank of America building in Paris — an event, it said, that underlined the seriousness of the threat inside France.French prosecutors said the attempted attack might have been linked to a pro-Iran group, as security fears flare over the war in the Middle East.Police also cited a polarized political debate during municipal elections last month.The decision comes as the French interior ministry prepares a draft law designed to tackle the danger of radical Islamist elements infiltrating Muslim groups.The bill is due to be presented to President Emmanuel Macron’s cabinet at the end of April, the ministry told AFP, confirming a report by Le Parisien newspaper.Asked to comment on the situation, Makhlouf Mameche, head of the organization that planned the event, confirmed the banning order and added his organization would be making a legal appeal against the decision.