You've obviously never been to France...


Paris airport bars 70 Muslim workers

Staff and agencies
Thursday November 2, 2006
Guardian Unlimited

More than 70 Muslim workers at the main airport in Paris were today stripped of their security clearance after authorities claimed they posed a risk to passengers.

A number of those affected, who work at Charles de Gaulle airport, are alleged to have taken part in extremist training camps in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
Jacques Lebrot, the deputy prefect of the Seine-St-Denis district in which the airport is located, said 72 employees suspected of having links with people who rejected "France and our values", or who were suspected of travelling to Pakistan and Afghanistan, had had their passes revoked.

Mr Lebrot told the New York Times that one employee was discovered to have been a friend of Richard Reid, the so-called shoe bomber who tried to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami in 2001. Reid is now serving a life sentence in the US. Sixty-eight more people had been investigated and cleared, Mr Lebrot added. Around a dozen other workers had been notified that they were considered security risks, but remained in their jobs pending questioning.


The unions representing them said some were still cleaning planes and handling baggage.
French authorities have declined to say what the evidence against the workers is, claiming it would compromise security sources, the New York Times reported.
Unions have filed a discrimination lawsuit over the revocations, and at least 10 airport workers who lost their jobs have sued separately to regain their security clearance.


Muslim organisations and human rights groups have accused the authorities of waging an anti-Muslim campaign in a presidential election year.
The crackdown on airport security was apparently stepped up after the publication of a book by the politician Philippe de Villiers in May.
He alleged that clandestine prayer rooms had been set up beneath airport runways and Islamists were poised to put the premises under Muslim Sharia law.
The politician, who opposes Muslim immigration, claimed to have based the book - called The Mosques of Roissy - on intelligence reports.


Last month, the French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, said 43 baggage handlers at Charles de Gaulle airport had had their security passes withdrawn. He said he "cannot accept that people with radical practices" work in an airport, adding that it was his "duty to ensure that [workers] do not have any kind of links with radical organisations".


Mr Sarkozy said officials had also closed "seven Islamist, clandestine and illegal prayer rooms" at Charles de Gaulle and at the second Paris airport, Orly.

I'm really curious about something - has any Muslimleadercondemned the murder, rape and mayhem going on in Darfur? I notice that Muslims are good at crying about the supposed persecution they are subjected to but have nothing to say about how they treat others.

By the way, I as a Christian could not openly worship in most Muslim nations - not even have a Bible. I am not saying that Muslims should be targetted or harassed, but I wonder why they do not extend the same courtesies to others that they demand for themselves?

AmeriJamCan wrote:
What has darfur go to do with anything, it seems people on this board who probably never heard of darfur(a center of islamic learning) before the civil war, want to use darfur as a tool judge muslims especially black muslims everytime an issue arises such as this one.How do you knowmuslims haven't condemned darfur, how do you know muslims don't stay up in thelate nights collecting money for darfur and niger?Maybe you are the one been selective your judgement?Islamic relief is doing an immense job in many countries, somalia and darfur included.Have you condemned the murder and mayhem caused in somalia by american backed warlords?Have you condemned the disappearance of thousands of muslim people in the world, who whete snatched by the agents of the country you have chosen your nickname for?And by the way most muslim nations are run by dictators, whom again are supported, armed and financed by the country you have chosen you have chosen you nickname as.How can muslims repay these favours when they don't even run their own countries?Maybe france should repay som favours owed to it by its african and arab muslims, whom she colonized,raped, killed and plundered the resources of their countries for years.A country which has failed to acknowledge even the thousands of young north african(arab and africans) who gave their lives for france during the second world war for the very freedoms you speak off.France acted like it owned their own countries and when they come to france look how they are treated.No jobs at best and when they do the dirty work, such as cleaning their aeroplanes and breaking their backs to load their baggages so french people can go on holiday.They are accused of being terrorists.You can carry a bible in morroco or tunisia bu you can't wear a hijab in some places, see the irony?I challenge you to name "the most muslims nations" you mentioned!

AmeriJamCan wrote: Do your research...

But turning your question around which Christian leaders have condemned 'the murder, rape and mayhem going on in Darfur'?

Tahliba wrote: That would be hard because what is a "muslim leader" or "Christian leader in todays world if we use Musharaf and Bush examples alot of muslims and christian won't be too happy.