French resident Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday that the Qatar-based cleric Shiekh Yusuf al-Qaradawi was not welcome in France.

 
French resident Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday that the Qatar-based cleric Shiekh Yusuf al-Qaradawi was not welcome in France.

Qaradawi, 86, has been invited to visit next month by the Union of Islamic Organizations in France (UOIF).

"I told the emir of Qatar himself that this gentleman was not welcome in the territory of the French Republic," Sarkozy told France Info radio.

"I said that a certain number of people, who have been invited to this congress and who maintain or who would like to take positions that are incompatible with the republican ideal, would not be welcome," Sarkozy added.

The Egyptian-born cleric had been due to attend the UOIF congress at Le Bourget near Paris on April 6.