France dumps Muslim advisory council that is 'under foreign influence'

A police officer patrols outside the Paris mosque during the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in April, 2021. AP - Christophe Ena

In what’s being described as a decisive period for Islam in France, the French Council of the Muslim Faith (Cfcm) – an official interlocutor between the government and religious leaders – is to be dissolved and replaced with a grassroots-style “forum”.

The Forum of the Islam of France (Forif), to be launched by President Emmanuel Macron on 5 February, is a complex process that will take place in the same venue where a Citizens Climate Assembly was set up to advise the government on its strategy to mitigate global warming.