Muslims ‘have right to kill millions of French’: Malaysia’s Mahathir sparks uproar with his response to Macron
- Comments by the former leader of Malaysia come as three people are killed at a church in Nice in a suspected terror attack
- The 95-year-old was referring to calls by Muslim nations for a boycott of French products following Macron’s plan to clamp down on radical Islam
The comments appeared on the 95-year-old’s blog on Thursday evening as part of Mahathir’s response to calls from Muslim nations to boycott French products. Twitter has since removed one of the elder statesman’s tweets containing his latest remarks after deeming it violated its rules. Earlier, it left the tweet accessible “in the public interest”.
Cédric O, France’s junior digital affairs minister, said he spoke with the managing director of Twitter in his country and called for the immediate suspension of Mahathir’s official account. “If not, Twitter would be an accomplice to murder,” the minister wrote on the social media platform.
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Malaysia’s ex-PM says Muslims ‘have right to kill millions of French’ hours after France attack
Mahathir’s post was immediately criticised by both foreign and local audiences, many of whom said he was encouraging violence.
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Muslims protest against French leader’s defence of Prophet Mohammed cartoons, call for boycott
“Since you have blamed all Muslims and their religion for what was done by one angry person, the Muslims have a right to punish the French. The boycott cannot compensate the wrongs committed by the French all these years,” he wrote, in an apparent reference to French colonialism