France: A far-right French politician launched his 2007 presidential campaign yesterday denouncing what he called the Islamisation of the country and declaring Islam incompatible with France's secular values.
Philippe de Villiers, head of the anti-immigrant Movement for France party, also alleged that Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport was endangered by Islamist radicals who he said had infiltrated the ground staff there.
Mr de Villiers has stirred up controversy in recent weeks with increasingly tough statements about Muslims, which critics call racist and officials say are exaggerated. France's five million Muslims make up the largest such minority in Europe.
"I am the only politician who tells the French the truth about the Islamisation of France," he said in a radio interview kicking off his campaign for the election next year.
He plans to publish a book on Thursday detailing his charges about radicals at the airport.
His main rival on the far-right, National Front head Jean-Marie Le Pen, has also stepped up his preparations for the 2007 vote.
The daily Le Parisien, in an extensive report yesterday on Mr de Villiers's charges about Islamist radicals at the Paris airport, quoted officials saying the problem was minimal and suspicious workers were kept under surveillance.
According to a survey to be published by the paper on Monday, Mr de Villiers trails the veteran far-right leader Mr Le Pen, with 4 per cent support against his rival's 14 per cent.
Mr de Villiers said Islam was incompatible with the country's democratic system because he said it demanded loyalty to the ummah (world Muslim community) over any individual state, wanted to impose sharia Islamic law and promoted jihad, or holy war.