Morocco Signals Willingness to Accept Controversial Imam Facing Expulsion from France

Gérald Darmanin said he had exchanges with the Moroccan ambassador to France in order to obtain from the Moroccan authorities the expulsion of Imam Iquioussen to Morocco. For a few weeks now, the Moroccan preacher has been making headlines because he is the target of an expulsion order from France issued by the Minister of the Interior, reports La Voix du Nord.

But after rejection of the request by the administrative court, arguing that such an action "could endanger the life of the imam", the Council of State ultimately validated the expulsion, stressing that it does not constitute "a serious and manifestly illegal infringement of (his) private and family life". But it is impossible to get hold of Imam Iquioussen who, according to the French authorities, would have taken refuge in Belgium.

Morocco, which at the beginning of August had issued a consular laissez-passer that could have allowed the expulsion of the imam, has since suspended it, explaining that it is no longer willing to welcome the latter. But today, even if he is still untraceable, Imam Hassan Iquioussen could well, if he is apprehended, be expelled to Morocco, according to the statements of Gérald Darmanin at a press conference on Wednesday morning. "They asked for additional information, they got it. I was able to talk about it with the ambassador."

For having disappeared from the radar of the police and the French authorities, a European arrest warrant has been issued against the imam, accused of inciting "hatred and discrimination and carrying a vision of Islam contrary to the values of the Republic". He was even registered in the file of wanted persons (FPR). "If tomorrow he is arrested, he will be sent back to France to be presented to an investigating judge. Either he is released and then the law enforcement officers will arrest him and deport him. Or he is convicted, and at the end of his sentence, he will be arrested and deported," Gérald Darmanin insists.