Pro-stoning Imam Faces Expulsion

The French justice minister yesterday ordered the expulsion of an Algerian-born Lyon imam who declared he was in favour of women being stoned, wives being beaten and France becoming an Islamist republic.

Dominique de Villepin said he wanted the repatriation order against Abdelkader Bouziane implemented immediately "as a public order measure aimed at protecting the national interest".

The minister said: "The government cannot tolerate remarks being made, in public, that run counter to human rights and human dignity."

Mr Bouziane, the imam of the al-Forquan mosque in the largely immigrant suburb of Vénisseux, said in an interview with Lyon Mag this weekend that the Koran authorised husbands to hit their wives, "but not just anywhere ... not on the face, but on the legs or stomach. And he can strike hard, to frighten her off reoffending."

He also said that he was in favour of polygamy, that women should not be allowed to share a workplace with men because "they could be tempted into adultery", and that music was a sin. Asked whether he approved of women being stoned, he replied: "Yes".

The moderate Muslim Council condemned his remarks.