Le Pen declares support to Egypt, Ali

PARIS – A spokesman for the French far-right-wing National Front Party leader, Marine Le Pen, said Thursday that Le Pen is fully aware of the war launched by the Egyptian government against fundamental Islamist movements in the Middle East and around the world, especially in Europe.

Jean Messiha added in a statement that Le Pen had invited the Head of the Center for Middle East Studies Abdul Rahim Ali, a member of the Egyptian parliament and an outstanding researcher on dynamic Islam, to benefit from his expertise and knowledge on the Arab stage.

The meeting, Messiha said in the statement, was part of dialogue between Le Pen, a member of the French parliament and the head of the second largest political party in France, and Ali, a fellow parliament member from Egypt.

He added that relations between France and Egypt are strong, especially in the military and security fields.

"These strong relations were the reason why France sold important military equipment to Egypt in the past months in order to back it in the fight against terrorism," Messiha said.

He noted that Le Pen considers the fight against fundamental Islam as one of the pillars of her policy.

This is why, he said, it is normal for her to talk to people who have expertize and are known to have knowledge about fundamental Islam, of whom Ali is one.

He said a baseless media campaign had been brewing in the past 48 hours to smear Ali and discredit him and also discredit the National Front Party and the efforts it makes.

The National Front, Messiha said, is the only political party in France that works to combat the influence of political Islam in the European country.

He added that the campaign is led by a man introduced by some people as an expert on Islamist affairs, namely Romain Caillet.

However, a brief search on the internet, Messiha said, shows that Mr Caillet is only a fundamentalist Islamist who is deep into the extremist ideology himself.

He said Caillet was a member of fundamentalist Islamist movements some years ago.

Today, Caillet is classified by French authorities as a person who poses danger to French national security, Messiha said.

He added that the fact that French media does not refer to this man's background or history shows the growing influence of fundamental Islam and its ability to penetrate the media in France and in the rest of Europe.

Through this statement, Messiha said, Le Pen supports the Egyptian government in its war against terrorism and its backing to all intellectuals like Ali who work to confront fundamental Islam.