France mobilizes prefects against racism following murder attempt of Moroccan imam

French prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, will convene "within a few days" all prefects to mobilize them against racism, after a murder attempt that targeted a Moroccan Imam last week in Sartène (southern Corsica), announced Tuesday interior Minister, Dominique de Villepin.

The house of the Moroccan Imam, which also serves as a mosque,

was gunshot by a bunch of individuals after they shouted racist insults at his direction.

Answering a question during the national assembly question-time on the murder attempt, De Villepin highlighted the "need to let justice take action" in a "complex and difficult question."

He also underlined the "upsurge of unacceptable acts" in the latest months, particularly in Corsica, noting a "significant increase in racism."

The assassination attempt of the Moroccan Imam, Mohamed El-Atrache, marks the start of a worrying phase in the escalation of violence against the Maghreban community in Corsica.

Early this week, the National Council of Moroccans in France (CNMF) has called for the implementation of pertinent laws to end the "intolerable" situation of the Maghreban community in Corsica.

The Moroccan Ministry in charge of Moroccans Living Abroad condemned on Tuesday the "racist" assassination attempt, and called on Moroccans to show restraint and carry on constructive dialogue and the friendship with the local populations.

Recently, the French paper Le Parisien noted that three hundred Corsica-settled Moroccan families escaped the worrying upsurge of racism in the French Island, to Le Gard (Southern France).

The exodus is gaining in intensity, the paper said, adding that the Moroccans dare not even talk about this problem to avoid retaliation against their co-citizens still in Corsica.