French politicians denounce mosque attack, suspect at large

Paris: French politicians denounced on Sunday an attack in which a man was stabbed to death while praying at a mosque in the south of the country, in an incident that was captured on video and disseminated on Snapchat.

The suspect remains at large since the attack, which took place on Friday, and police have not publicly detailed a motive.

President Emmanuel Macron offered his support to the man's family and to the French Muslim community, writing in a post on X: "Racism and religiously motivated hatred will never belong in France."

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau on Sunday visited the southern French town of Ales where the attack took place, where he met with religious leaders. A demonstration against Islamophobia was expected in Paris on Sunday evening.

Prime Minister Francois Bayrou condemned the attack as Islamophobic in a post on X on Saturday.

France, a country that prides itself on its homegrown secularism known as "laicite," has the largest Muslim population in Europe, numbering more than 6 million and making up around 10 per cent of the country's population.

But politicians across the political spectrum, including Macron, have attacked what they described as Islamist separatism and radical Islam, in a way that rights and Muslim groups have said could make it harder for Muslims to express their identity.

The French Council of the Muslim Faith on Sunday urged authorities to launch a national plan to protect Muslim places of worship