France Bars Muslim Clerics From Entering France

PARIS (AP) — France has barred a group of Muslim clerics, including one of the most prominent voices in Sunni Islam, from entering the country to attend a conference.

France’s foreign ministry said Thursday the clerics were invited by the French Islamic Union to speak next month at a congress near Paris.

One of those barred, the Egyptian-born Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, says he refuses to come to France.

Tensions are high in France after Mohamed Merah, a French Muslim of Algerian descent, confessed to killing seven people in shootings in southern France.

The foreign ministry said in a statement that “these people call for hatred and violence and seriously violate the principles of the Republic, and in the current context, seriously risk disrupting public order.”