Sarkozy was behind the launching of the umbrella CFCM in 2003.

PARIS — Some 200 heads of mosques and associations launched on Sunday, June 19, a new Muslim body in the western European country.

The Rally of Muslims in France (RMF) said it wanted to contribute to the emergence of moderate Islam that would respect French laws while lobbying on behalf of the sizable Muslim minority, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The newly-founded body held its first meeting in Paris Sunday with the participation of 200 heads of mosques and associations.

The nascent RMF is led by Taoufiq Sebti, the president of a regional Muslim group covering the Paris area.

France is home to some six to seven million Muslims, the largest Muslim minority in Europe.

Complementing

Anouar Kbibech, the head of a Paris Muslim group participating in the meeting, said the nascent body intended to be "complementary, not a rival" to the state-sponsored French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM).

There was no immediate reaction from the Muslim umbrella group or the government on the new body.

The CFCM was set up by French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy in 2003 and has been raven by a power struggle since its inception.

The CFCM president, Dalil Boubakeur, who is also the rector of the Paris mosque, said an overdue board meeting of the Muslim body has again been delayed to early July.

He explained that the CFCM members agreed to the additional delay at the request of the office of President Jacques Chirac.

Chirac is expected to inaugurate on Sunday, 25, a memorial to Muslim soldiers who fought for France in World War I.

The French government sponsored the CFCM launch to create national and regional leaderships able to deal with state officials about problems facing French Muslims.

According to its statute, the CFCM deals with the religious aspects of Muslim life in France, such as the construction of mosques, training of imams and nomination of chaplains for hospitals, prisons and the military.

The CFCM has in many occasions been criticized for not standing up to the rights of French Muslims, particularly during the controversy trigger by an official ban on wearing hijab in public schools.