France united against terrorism : Ambassador
The current atmosphere in France is that of a united people with a single purpose and message that violence has no place in the affairs of the country, the French Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Frederic Clavier, has stated.
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He said the environment also demonstrated the unity of the political stakeholders, as well as the people, who believed in dialogue and who had rejected violence as the means or mode to addressing issues.
“While we believe in freedom of worship, the French do not accept the situation where any religious group or groups would intimidate the others,” he noted.
The Ambassador was speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview at his office in Accra, following the recent attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in France.
“France is shocked by the violent attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine, because France is an open country, which does not accept such acts and which believes that every religion has a place in the country,” he said.
Religion and faith
Mr Clavier said the belief of his country was that religion and faith must not interfere with public affairs and that the state or the government had the responsibility to protect all religions, irrespective of their size, saying, “this is a strong French tradition.”
Equally, he said, the people of France refused to be paralysed by some terrorists who desire to create fear among the people, but who could not take the whole country hostage.
“They expected to create fear in the people, but they did not succeed. Life has to continue, shops have to open, workers must go to work and schools have to reopen,” he explained.
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He stressed the need for people to respect the values of others, adding that “human rights and values are stronger than terrorism, and the willingness of a minority of people to create chaos in the society will not work.’’
Message of condolences
Mr Clavier said the various messages of condolences received from countries and their leaders, including Ghana,as well as from religious bodies, meant so much to the people of France.
He said one thing that ran through most of the messages was that the countries shared the same values with France.
Asked how the French community in Ghana was handling the issue, he said they were united in strength.
“The French community is, particularly, happy with the solidarity message from Ghana,” he said.
Religious tolerance
The Ambassador was happy that there were many religious groups in Ghana, but they lived together peacefully and said that was an example worthy of emulation.
“Ghana is an example of multi-religious living,” he noted, and said yet the different religious bodies in the country lived in harmony.