Imam Abdelkader Bouziane won his case to return back to France

CAIRO, May 2 (IslamOnline.net) – Expelling imams from European countries would  further alienate Muslims in the continent, an IslamOnlin.net poll showed Sunday, May 2.

Of 5182 respondents, an overwhelming majority of 80.59 percent believed that the current wave of imam expulsions across Europe ran the risk of making Muslims feel they were not integral part of these societies.

A minor percentage of 19.41 said the move would not affect the Muslim communities in Europe.

The three-day poll further showed that a majority of 67.36 percent of 4930 surveyed are in favor of making imams in Europe accountable to the Islamic organizations, while 25.13 percent said their work should be regulated by the country’s judiciary.

But a meager percentage of 7.51 said imams should answer to the security apparatus.

The poll followed a series of mounting pressures on Muslims, particularly imams, in a number of European countries, chiefly France, which drew sharp criticism from many Muslims in Europe, who saw it as part of a broader crackdown on them.

Last month the French government experienced an embarrassing setback when a court ruled illegal its decision to expel to his native Algeria the imam of the city of Venissieux.

Nevertheless, French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin pledged Saturday, May 1, to press ahead with the deportation of what he termed as "radical Muslim clerics".

He told a private meeting of regional Muslim religious leaders the government had already "expelled two self-styled imams who betrayed Islam's message of peace."

The minister added he wanted to "continue along this path: it is a question of security for all of us".

In a similar measure, the Danish government announced Tuesday, February 18, changes to the immigration laws, an action seen as specifically targeting Muslim scholars.

Announcing the changes, Danish Prime Minister Anders Rasmussen cited "the demand that imams and others have an education and that they be financially self-sufficient."

Abdul Karim al-Tibsi, a teacher of Arabic and Islam at the Islamic Center in Rome, recently told IslamOnline.net he was ordered to leave the country despite being a legal resident for 12 years.

The measure was a punishment for leading worshippers in a funeral prayer in absentia for Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmad Yassin, who was assassinated by an Israeli missile attack on March 22.