PARIS, February 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy admitted Friday, February 21, that conditions of the country's Muslim community are not good.

He asserted that this was behind his insistence on setting up the French Council of Muslims, the first ever unified body authorized to speak on behalf of the five million strong community in the rigidly secular state.

Many of the French people fear Islam and Muslims because they do not much about them, Sarkozy said in an interview with the Liberation newspaper.

Muslims feel they are being suspected and disdained by others in the country only because they are Muslims, he regretted.

All our problems in France stem from the fact that we do not understand each other, Sarkozy said, adding that such understanding would lead to accepting "the other".

An officially recognized and accountable Islamic body is essential to dispel nascent hostility to Islam that emerged following the September 11 attacks, he remarked.

Urgent Step

The French interior minister stressed the dire need for a council grouping all Muslims in the county so as to improve their current conditions.

He added that the council would not mark an end to the problems facing Muslims in France, but rather a means for solving them.

Sarkozy managed to persuade rival Islamic organizations to overcome their differences and divisions to gather in a secluded chateau on December 20 outside Paris and agree on setting up the first ever Islamic council in the county.

He then hailed the success of the meeting as a historic advance for French Muslims.

Sarkozy said the importance of the Council is that it would be a permanent platform for mooting what he claimed where controversial issues such as Hijab.

On criticism of allowing the Union of Islamic Organizations in France (UOIF) to be member of a panel organizing the Council's elections despite its alleged link to the Muslim Brotherhood group, Sarkozy said the UOIF represents a large number of Muslims in France.

Every institution representing the country's Muslims has the right to join the council, he stressed.

Under the deal hammered out in the December 20 meeting, the three major Muslim bodies in France - the UOIF, the National Federation of Muslims in France (FNMF) and the Paris Grand Mosque - agreed to share top posts on the Council's central committee.

Sarkozy said he tried during the formation of the Council to create an atmosphere of transparency and confidence with representatives of the Muslim community.

"Secular"

Asked whether the setting up of a Muslims Council contravenes the principles of secularism in the French law, the interior minister said Muslims are the only community who are not represented by a nation-wide organization.

This should not be ignored if we are working to integrate all of the country's citizens into the society's fabric, he added.

Islam should enjoy rights entitled to other religions, Sarkozy said, adding he would not mind setting up an institute to groom Imams just as there is one for priests.

A council for Muslims is a historic chance they should use to group themselves within one institution, he added.