TIMES UNION: PARIS (AP) — France's prime minister scrambled Wednesday to dispel concerns in the Jewish and Muslim communities after criticizing the ritual slaughter of animals for kosher and halal meat.
Halal meat in particular has emerged as a hot-button issue in the campaign for presidential elections starting next month in France, a country with at least 5 million Muslims, the largest such population in western Europe.
Francois Fillon's call for religions to "reflect" upon what he called outdated traditions has fed a hyper-charged political atmosphere. His boss, conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, has openly courted far right voters in hopes of boosting his lagging chances of re-election, with digs at Muslim practices and calls to shrink immigration.
But for many, Fillon's comments went too far. He hosted Jewish leaders Wednesday and was expected to meet with Muslim leaders Thursday in what appeared to be an attempt to ease concerns about his comments on French radio this week.
The Jewish leaders he met with Wednesday said Fillon assured them that Judaism wasn't targeted, but insisted they would keep an eye on government policy. France also has a large Jewish community, estimated at about half a million.
Most French are Roman Catholic by heritage, and many French holidays and traditions are linked to Christianity. But for a century the government has professed allegiance to a strict separation of church and state. » | AP | Thursday, March 08, 2012
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