“They wrongly understood that he was inciting hatred and encouraging violence,” said Meskine.

PARIS, August 7, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The French Council of Imams has stopped deportation procedures of a French imam of Tunisian origin, who was blacklisted for expulsion by the Interior Ministry.

Council sources told IslamOnline.net that Zuhir Rizkullah, the imam of a mosque in northern Paris, has been accused by French authorities of inciting hatred and violence.

“We swung into action and managed to convince French police to stop expulsion procedures and denaturalization,” Council Secretary General Daw Meskine told IOL Saturday, August 6.

Rizkullah, on his part, thanked the council for the painstaking efforts.

“I was put on the French watch list because the mosque which I supervise drew droves of young generations, which really unnerved French authorities,” he told IOL.

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has said that police would be granted extra powers to expel more “radical” imams from the country in the wake of the London bombings, which killed 56 people including four British-born Muslim bombers.

He said dozens of "hatred-inciting" preachers would be deported in August under existing laws.

French authorities expelled in July imams Reda Ameuroud and Abdelhamid Aissaoui to their native Algeria for reportedly encouraging violence in their sermons.

Sarkozy also said he was planning to put forward new anti-terror measures authorizing eavesdropping on phone calls and archiving them for one year.

Meskine said police reports on Rizkullah were based on poor translation and misinterpretations.

“They wrongly understood that he was inciting hatred and encouraging violence,” he said.

Meskine said he does not know for sure how many imams have been blacklisted by French authorities.

“But our swift action will undoubtedly get authorities to reconsider future deportations,” he added.

Meskine also lashed out at the French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM), accusing it of “collaborating” with French security agencies in cracking down on Salafist imams.

The CFCM has made it clear that the deportation drive would prove counterproductive, but underlined the importance of taking “deterrent” measures against imams violating French laws.

Imams across Europe have been placed under the microscope after the London attacks.

Homes of imams in several European countries, notably Italy, have been raided by plainclothes officers and dozens others have been deported to their home towns.

The issue of imams training has also taken central stage in Europe.

The French government has put forward an initiative to educate newcomers about the history of secularism in France.

German integration minister Marieluise Beck has further released a 20-point strategy  recommending that imams coming to Germany should have a knowledge of the German language and society.