Vandals Desecrate Muslim Military Graves in Northern France

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Anti-Islamism today is reaching similar levels as the pre-Holocaust anti-Semitism in Europe. It calls for constructive engagement in society by all concerned citizens to tackle this menace.

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By VOA News 06 April 2008

A grave of a Muslim World War I soldier, defaced with a swastika, is seen in the cemetery at Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, northern France, 06 Apr 2008

French police say vandals have desecrated nearly 150 Muslim grave sites at a World War I military cemetery in northern France.

Authorities say headstones were inscribed Saturday night with anti-Islamic slogans and graffiti deriding Justice Minister Rachida Dati, who is of North African origin. A pig's head was found hanging from one grave marker.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the vandalism a form of "unacceptable racism." He said he shares the pain of his country's Muslim community - the largest in Europe.

The desecration came less than a year after youths painted Nazi inscriptions and swastikas on Muslim tombs in the same cemetery.

Police arrested two suspects in the 2007 vandalism. Both were convicted and sentenced to one-year prison terms.

From 1914 to 1917, France mobilized about 600,000 colonial subjects, including many Muslims from Algeria and Tunisia. Seventy-eight thousand of those conscripts were killed.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

URL: http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-04-06-voa17.cfm