French religious leaders urge for more security at worship sites

French religious leaders on Wednesday call for authorities to boost security at places of worship after jihadists killed a priest in a Normandy church.

“We deeply desire that our places of worship are the subject of greater (security) focus, a sustained focus,” says French Muslim leader Dalil Boubakeur, after meeting with President Francois Hollande.

Hollande gathers with the leaders of the country’s main religions a day after two attackers stormed a church in the northern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during morning mass, slitting the throat of an 86-year-old priest.

Boubakeur, speaking in the name of French Muslims, voices his “deep grief” at the attack which he described as a “blasphemous sacrilege which goes against all the teachings of our religion.”

— AFP