Macron tours Grand Mosque in Paris on centenary visit

French president lays wreath at mosque built to commemorate fallen Muslim soldiers

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives for a centenary event at the Grand Mosque in Paris. AP

French President Emmanuel Macron toured the Grand Mosque in Paris on Wednesday to mark 100 years since the laying of its first stone.

Mr Macron was greeted by the mosque's rector, Chems-Eddine Hafiz, before inspecting an exhibition about the history of the Paris landmark.

He laid a wreath in a courtyard of the mosque, which was built to commemorate the 70,000 Muslim soldiers who died fighting in France's name during the First World War.

By Mr Macron's side were former president Nicolas Sarkozy and current Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, also among the guests at the centenary event.

The mosque took four years to build, but its first stone was laid on October 19, 1922.

The oldest mosque in mainland France, its architecture evoked that of Moorish Spain and its minaret rises 33 metres above the Parisian streets. The National visited the mosque last year.

An important focal point for France's six million Muslims, the mosque's leadership threw its weight behind Mr Macron in April when Mr Hafiz supported his bid for a second term as president.

Mr Hafiz was in July named an officer of France's Legion d'Honneur, in an honours list released to coincide with Bastille Day celebrations.

Mr Macron has had an uneasy relationship with France's Muslims, after spearheading what he called a fight against Islamist separatism following a series of terrorist attacks.

He announced new restrictions on the financing and governance of mosques in order to combat extremism, but insisted he had no grudge against French Muslims.

Last year he praised the adoption of a charter of principles by French Muslim councils as a "clear, decisive and precise commitment in favour of the republic", and later stopped by the mosque on what it called an impromptu visit.

When the election's final round pitted the president against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, Mr Hafiz urged his followers to stick with Mr Macron.

"We do not have the right to risk the future of our children by remaining passive witnesses to a political catastrophe," he said at the time.

Paris's Grand Mosque - in pictures