'Islam in crisis all over the world': Macron unveils anti-radicalism plan

President Macron on Friday detailed plans for "secularism" as "cement of a united France" as he announced his government's willingness to present a bill in December to strengthen a 1905 law that officially separated church and state which ensured the country's neutrality on religion. 

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In a speech to the nation, Macron said, "Islam is a religion that is in crisis all over the world today, we are not just seeing this in our country," while adding that his government aimed at addressing Islamic radicalisation in France and improving "our ability to live together".

"Islam in France must be freed from foreign influence, let us not fall into the trap laid by extremists, who aim to stigmatise all Muslims," the French president said. “We have not unpacked our past. We have grandparents who have passed their scars onto their children,” he insisted.

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Macron stressed the importance of education especially aimed at young people to instil secular values stating that the government would require private schools to teach children.  

Macron said the law permits people to belong to any faith they choose to practice while saying that the country would seek to "liberate" Islam from foreign influences by looking closely at financing of mosques with closer scrutiny of schools and associations which serve religious communities.

Macron's speech comes just days after a man stuck two people with a meat cleaver on the same street where the staff of Charlie Hebdo were massacred in January 2015 by Islamist gunmen.