France’s little experiment with giving Muslims a voice in government is not going well. Fate of French Muslim leader shows
challenge posed by fundamentalists. (Hat tip: JH.)

Dalil Boubakeur, a man who has eagerly sought to build bridges with the Jewish community and to present a liberal image of French Islam, came close to throwing in the towel late last month.

The rector of Paris’ Grand Mosque, Boubakeur was handpicked by Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy to lead the new council, a body set up to integrate French Muslims into society and, simultaneously, to marginalize the more fundamentalist currents in the community.

However, following stinging defeats at the hands of the Islamists the council was set up to reject, Boubakeur issued a short statement on June 27 that he was resigning as council president for “health reasons.”

The statement set off alarm bells at the Interior Ministry. Sarkozy quickly telephoned Boubakeur and — with a little arm-twisting from Boubakeur�s backers in Algeria — Boubakeur soon issued another statement “categorically denying any intention of resigning.”

Regardless of Boubakeur’s ultimate fate, the prospects for moderate French Islam do not appear promising.

Read it all. France is doomed.