Far-right protesters storm French mosque

PARIS — Dozens of far-right extremists have stormed the construction site of a mosque in western France to show their hostility toward it and denounce immigration that has brought millions of Muslims into the country.

Regional prefect Yves Dassonville said about 70 protesters traveled from around France for Saturday morning’s demonstration in the city of Poitiers.

He said the protesters, convened by a group called “Coordination Identitaire,” brandished banners, scaled the roof, and carried tents and electric generators for the protest starting shortly before dawn. Muslim leaders said they disrupted a prayer in the still-unfinished building.

Dassonville said that after police arrived, the protesters dispersed without resistance. Three were detained to face accusations of “incitement of racial hatred” and damage to property.

Condemnation came from the French government which described the action as “hateful provocation, and from the Muslim national umbrella organization, the French Muslim Council (CFCM), which spoke of its “strong indignation” and condemned an occupation “without precedent in French history.”

Around midday the demonstrators agreed to leave after negotiations with the local authorities.

A spokesman for the activists, Damien Rieu, confirmed that they were “going calmly to the exit” after “negotiating.”

“We were planning to stay longer but as we had no intention whatsoever of a physical confrontation we are leaving with the police in a good mood without an unhappy ending,” Rieu said.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who is in the Philippines “firmly”, condemned a “provocation that reveals an unacceptable religious hatred.”

Interior Minister Manuel Valls also condemned “hateful and inadmissible provocation” and “questionable confusions” of the group which on its Internet site refers to Charles Martel, who “nearly 1,300 years ago stopped the Arabs at Poitiers.” — Agencies