Attack on top Muslim

last updated 8 January 2015

Nantes, France

A bomb destroyed the car of France’s first Muslim governor this week, just four days after he was appointed to his post. Aissa Dermouche, the new prefect of the Jura region, near the Swiss border, was not injured in the attack. Officials said they had not identified a motive or suspects. “Was it the far right?” asked state prosecutor Jean-Marie Huet. “Or Muslim fundamentalists? Or jealousies of a private nature?” Dermouche, 57, was born in Algeria and is the first immigrant to be named to such a high office. His appointment was seen as a way to ease tensions between the government and the Muslim population over a new law that bans Islamic head scarves in schools.