France: Government Bans Domestic Islamist Group

NYTimes.com 24 January 2012
By SCOTT SAYARE

The government has ordered the dissolution of a domestic Islamist group, saying that it was a terrorist organization training its members "for armed combat,” Interior Minister Claude Guéant said Monday. The Web site of the group, Forsane Alizza or "The Knights of Pride,” says its aim is to fight Islamophobia. The Web site is laced with anti-Semitic material and postings supporting organizations that are widely deemed to be terrorist groups, including the Afghan Taliban. (...)

Posted January 24th, 2012 by pk

And this, related, also from Europe News:

France accuses domestic Islamists of training for violence

Expatica the Netherlands 24 January 2012

French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said on Monday he had ordered a domestic Islamist group to disband, accusing it of training its members for "armed struggle". Speaking on a visit to Mantes-la-Jolie in northwestern France, Gueant said: "It is unacceptable in our country that groups train people for armed struggle, for any opportunity for anti-establishment terrorism to present itself."
A spokesman for the group, known as Forsane Alizza or "the Knights of Pride", denied any involvement in violence, and accused the minister of justifying his order through "pure slander and defamation".
The official Forsane Alizza website urges supporters to attend a series of meetings planned in eight major French cities on Wednesday this week to recruit people "with all skills, but especially soldiers".
"In effect we have, thanks to God, brothers and sisters with all sorts of skills in our ranks and it is more brothers on the ground that we need this time," the message explained.
"So if you enjoy martial arts and can turn up quickly when we call on you, then your profile is what we are looking for, if God wills it," continues the site, which any web-user can view and is not encrypted. (...)

Posted January 24th, 2012 by pk