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Pantin Mosque: courted yesterday, today decried, who is M'hammed Henniche?

2020-10-22T06:51:57.394Z


The manager of the Pantin mosque, targeted by a closing decree against which he filed an appeal on Wednesday, has also since


It is therefore the beginning of the response, for this public figure, who has cultivated, over the years, close relations with the services of the State… and with many elected officials from all sides.

M'hammed Henniche announced Wednesday evening that he was going to lodge an appeal against the order closing the Pantin mosque that he directs.

President of the Union of Muslim Associations (UAM) of 93, which he helped to found in 2001, the man is "a notable Muslim", notes an old observer of local life.

And if the history of Seine-Saint-Denis were leafed through like an old photo album, it's a safe bet that M'hammed Henniche would appear in many pictures: on November 6, 2005, for example, he was one of the few associations of 93 urgently invited to the Interior Ministry by a certain Nicolas Sarkozy.

At the time, it was about trying to put out the fire of the riots in the suburbs.

In March 2012, there, he helped the UMP to drive, by whole buses, faithful Muslims to the meeting of Sarkozy, now a candidate for re-election, in Villepinte.

It must be said that, quite quickly, links were forged with certain right-wing elected officials of the time.

This is what Corinne Raoult tells us, former collaborator and wife of the former deputy mayor (UMP) of Raincy, Eric Raoult.

“My husband produced a report in 2010 on the wearing of the veil.

Indeed, we were looking for a representative of Muslims who is moderate.

We did not want an overly radical religious leader.

We made M'hammed Henniche our relay. "

He supports Brard in Montreuil, Beschizza in Aulnay, Raoult in Raincy

UAM 93, which was built on criticism of the French Council for Muslim Worship (CFCM), considered too unrepresentative, has asserted itself over the years as the interlocutor of prefects, elected officials ... and also wanted to influence the local elections.

Calling, over the ballots, to vote for candidates according to the promises made to religious associations.

In 2014, in Montreuil, she showed her support for the candidate (various left) Jean-Pierre Brard.

“We hadn't bargained.

I had publicly committed to the allocation of land for a mosque and the creation of a Muslim cemetery ”, underlines the former deputy mayor, who did not win the election…

VIDEO.

Darmanin: "I asked to close the Pantin mosque"

Elsewhere, this support appears to have been more effective.

In Aulnay-sous-Bois, we remember that the UAM, through the voice of its two co-presidents, contributed to the victory of Bruno Beschizza (LR) in 2014: "They had called to vote for him", remembers Leïla Abdellaoui, elected opposition.

They had been scalded by an unfulfilled promise of the former mayor PS Gérard Ségura.

Their approach was between politics and revenge. ”

Juppé, Pécresse, Fillon ... respond to his invitations

To strengthen ties, UAM 93 has also made a habit, for fifteen years, of inviting politicians to its Iftar (

Editor's note: fast breaking meals

) or meetings.

And the invitation cards went far beyond the borders of 93: Alain Juppé in 2015, François Fillon in 2014, Nathalie Kosciuszko-Morizet in 2015, or even Valérie Pécresse, in Pantin in 2013 and in Blanc-Mesnil in 2015.

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“Everyone was rushing there,” sneers an observer.

Ironic, when we see that today, all condemn the Pantin mosque and support its closure… ”Contacted Valérie Pécresse sweeps the attack away.

“In the context of interreligious dialogue, we need interlocutors.

Monsieur Henniche is one of them.

But I have no political support for him.

Say, polite reports. "

"He is not a jihadist"

In Seine-Saint-Denis, UAM 93 is not unanimous among Muslim religious leaders.

Some see it as "an empty shell", led by a "clever politician".

“But he's not a jihadist.

It only exists in his report to the administration, ”notes a former official from 93.

However, he "lacked caution", notes Bernard Godard, a former civil servant in the office of worship at the Ministry of the Interior: "He still chose to work with an imam who studied at a Salafist institute in Yemen. . "

The presence of this imam is one of the reasons invoked by the decree posted on the mosque of Pantin, to justify its closure.

The measure comes especially to sanction the sharing, on the Facebook account of the place of worship, of one of the videos implicating Samuel Paty, a few days before the assassination of the teacher.

Contacted, M'hammed Henniche confirms his surprise to see institutions and elected officials point the finger at him when he has frequented them for years.

"But I am focused on my appeal, on the reopening of the Pantin mosque," he says.

The time for explanations will come later. ”

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2020-10-22

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