Pig head stirs uproar in France

MONTAUBAN, France - Agence France-Presse

People stand near the blood-stained pavement near Toulouse. REUTERS photo

French Muslim and Jewish groups were united in outrage Aug. 1 after two pig heads were dumped at a mosque in a town where an Islamist gunman killed two paratroopers in March.

The French Council of the Muslim Faith described the defilement of the mosque in the town of Montauban as “a racist and xenophobic provocation” and urged the authorities to bring those responsible to justice swiftly. France’s Union of Jewish Students said it was appalled by an incident that had occurred in a “worrying climate of hatred”.

It was the first such incident in the southern Tarn-et-Garonne region, leading to speculation it was a response to the March shooting spree of Mohamed Merah. Merah killed two paratroopers in Montauban, as well as three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and another soldier in nearby Toulouse before being killed himself in a police siege of his apartment.