Ali: Islamists using human rights as a weapon against Western countries

PARIS – Director of the Middle East Center for Studies in Paris (CEMO) Abdel Rahim Ali accused today Islamists of using human rights as a weapon against Western countries.

France, he said, is a case in point.

Ali added at a seminar organized by CEMO in Paris on the exploitation of human rights by Islamists at the office of the center in Paris that France has been suffering because of the Islamists for a long time now since the Paris Metro bombing in 1995.

"These violent incidents were the fruits of the thoughts planted by people like Youssef al-Qaradawi and Rached Ghannouchi who were considered moderates for a long time in the past," Ali said.

He added that these people founded social organizations that were inherently religious in nature.

These organizations then became the Association of Islamic Organizations in France, Ali said.

He said these organizations had cost France dearly at the financial and moral levels.

The seminar is titled "Human Rights: Islamists' Weapon in Democracy Abuse".

It is held against the background of exploitation by Islamists of human rights to serve their own agendas.

The seminar is moderated by CEMO Executive Director Ahmed Youssef. Other speakers include French Senator Valerie Bouillier, and French writers Yves Thréard and Roland Lombardi.