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The Muslim minority in Marseille prays in small neighborhood mosques, often installed in disused shops or garages |
MARSEILLE — French Muslims have vowed to defy opposition to the construction of a grand mosque in the Mediterranean port of Marseille after a court suspended building in response to a legal action by far-right groups.
"[The lawsuit] is xenophobic and racist political act," Moulay Abderrahmane Ghoul, the regional head of the Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF), was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He, however, said the ruling would not undermine "the city's will to build the mosque."
The Marseille administrative court on Tuesday, April 17, overturned a decision by the Marseille city to allocate a plot of land for the construction of a grand mosque.
It said renting the 8,600-squar meters plot in the north of the city for a rate of 300 euros (407 dollars) a year amounted to a subsidy to a religious group in violation of France's separation of church and state.
The lawsuit was brought by the far-right groups National Front (FN), the Movement for France (MPF) and the National Republican Movement (MNR).
The MNR said the ruling was a "judicial and political victory... against the Islamisation of France."
Philippe de Villiers, the MPF presidential candidate, said it was "just, fair and conforming to French laws and a healthy secularism".
He called for a moratorium on all mosque constructions and a charter "imposing respect for the laws of the republic on Islam".
France is home to around six million Muslims, the largest Muslim minority in Europe.
Delay
Jean-Claude Gondard, Secretary General of Marseille City Hall, said the mosque's opponents are "very political, and liable to try to block the project every step of the way."
He said the ruling would cause a delay of three to four months at most.
Gondard said a new lease for the land plot would be submitted to the city council in June, adding that the city would file for planning permission in the autumn.
The first plans for a grand mosque in Marseille date back to the 1930s but repeatedly floundered due to divisions within the Muslim minority and some resistance from the local population.
Marseille is home to 250,000 Muslims.
The minority prays in small neighborhood mosques, often installed in disused shops or garages.
A French book published in 2004 highlighted the history of mosques in France, particularly in the northern Alsace area.
Titled "Histoires de Mosquees," the book takes the readers back to the early stage of construction of mosques in France in 1960s.
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