French Interior Minister Boycotts Ramadan Dinner at Paris Grand Mosque

The "ambassadors’ iftar" organized by the Great Mosque of Paris is to take place this Tuesday evening. But Bruno Retailleau will be conspicuous by his absence and will be replaced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, while traditionally it is the Minister of the Interior who takes part in this moment of communion and sharing. A way for the successor of Gérald Darmanin - who has always sacrificed this tradition - to express his disagreement with the Great Mosque of Paris, which is exclusively directed by Algeria and a Franco-Algerian rector, in the person of Chems-Eddine Hafiz, and his dissatisfaction with the Algerian file.

Retailleau reproaches the Great Mosque of Paris for the issue of "Halal" certification for Algeria. "A mosque is a place of worship, it is not an embassy," he had declared last January, denouncing this practice revealed in an investigation by L’Opinion. In the eyes of the French minister, the place of worship advocates a "consular Islam, very influenced by foreign countries," in reference to Algeria. He had therefore announced that he had asked his services to examine the conditions for the establishment of the "tax" required from French companies wishing to export food products to Algeria to obtain the "halal" certification.