France seeks to woo Islamic investments

Aims to turn Paris into EU capital of Islamic finance
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PARIS : As France debates whether to ban the burqa, the government is leading a drive to attract billions in investment from Muslim countries by turning Paris into the European capital of Islamic finance.
The French parliament this month has approved changes to legislation to allow Islamic "sukuk" bonds to be issued and the Qatar Islamic Bank has applied to be the first such bank to open in France.
Home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority, France is hoping to unseat London as the European hub for Islamic banking, offering products that comply with Sharia law and meet the needs of big investors mostly from Gulf countries.
But the drive is raising hackles, with some opposition politicians accusing the government of undermining France's much prized secularism to accommodate wealthy interests.
"When rich Muslims are concerned, we welcome them. But when they are poor, we put them on planes and deport them. This is all very upsetting," said Socialist deputy Henri Emmanuelli.
After failing to garner enough votes to derail the bill, the Socialist opposition is challenging the legality of the new legislation on Islamic finance before the Constitutional Council.
"We must not allow principles of Sharia law, or the ethics of the Quran to be introduced into French law," said Emmanuelli.
Under Sharia law, making money from money such as charging interest is not permitted and investment in companies involved in alcohol, gambling and tobacco is strictly off limits.
"Sukuk" bonds
Much of the debate has focused on opening up the French market to "sukuk" bonds, which are asset-based and do not pay interest. Investors receive coupons corresponding to part of the profits earned by the asset underpinning the bond.
Economists argue that money raised through Islamic finance could help spur France's nascent recovery with tools that are seen as financially sounder than the high-risk derivatives that led to the 2008 global meltdown.
Elyes Jouini, an author of a report presented to the government last year, estimates that France could tap into 120 billion euros in capital from Islamic finance by making adjustments to its tax and banking laws.
Only €7 billion of those would be raised domestically among France's five million Muslims.
"There are extremely important financial reserves in Gulf countries and southeast Asia and these countries are ready to invest anywhere but they have specific rules in terms of ethics and in terms of the choice of investment," said Jouini.
"If France wants to attract this capital to its economy, it must offer the possibility for these investors to do so according to the rules of Islamic finance," he said.
Fear of the unknown
Finance Minister Christine Lagarde and Central Bank governor Christian Noyer are to address a major conference in Paris this week that could yield some announcements on promoting Islamic finance in the French economy.
France's far-right National Front has denounced Islamic finance as a "community-based peril" resulting from immigration.
Jouini said opposition to the changes stems from "fear of the unknown."
"The term Islamic is confused with Islamist, the term Sharia raises fears because some think of women forced to cover themselves, the word fatwa raises fears because some think of Salman Rushdie, but a fatwa is nothing more than a decree," said Jouini.
"Islamic finance draws from the ethical principles of Muslim law but it obviously obeys Republican laws. It is not outside the boundaries of legality or civil society," he said.
The drive to open up to Islamic finance came as a parliament task force was looking at measures to ban the wearing of the full Islamic veil in France, reviving controversy over Islam's place there.

West slams "provocative" Iran tests before talks

Iran test fires long-range missiles on second day of war games
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TEHRAN: Western powers on Monday called Iran's latest missile test firings "provocative" as the White House urged Tehran to agree to immediate, unfettered access to its newly disclosed nuclear fuel plant at this week's talks with world powers.
The statements came after Iran test-fired two different long-range missiles on its second day of war games.
The first test-firing involved the Shahab-3, which Iran says could hit arch-foe Israel and U.S. military bases in the region. It was shown in footage broadcast by state-owned Press TV channel being launched in desert terrain.
The second missile was Iran's two-stage long-range Sejil. It was the first such firing during military maneuvers by the Revolutionary Guards, according to Fars news agency.
The state TV reported earlier that Tehran has test-fired medium-range missiles, a day after the Revolutionary Guards launched short-range missiles as part of several days of war games.
Iran conducts war games or tests weapons to show its resolve to counter any attack by Israel or the United States.
Western countries suspect Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, which Tehran denies. Iran and world powers meet in Geneva on Thursday to discuss Tehran's disputed atomic program.
The five U.N. Security Council permanent members -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- plus Germany are due to take part in the talks with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on Oct. 1.
West angered
The U.S. joined France and other Western powers in criticism of Iran's latest missile tests as Russia appealed for the world not to "succumb to emotions."
"Obviously these were pre-planned military exercises," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters when asked about the missile tests.
"I would lump any of these into the provocative nature in which Iran has operated on the world stage for a number of years."
"They can agree to immediate unfettered access (of the nuclear fuel facility)," Gibbs said when asked what Washington wants from the much-anticipated talks.
"That would be the least that they could do."
Meanwhile the French foreign ministry said: "We call on Iran to choose the path of cooperation rather than confrontation, by immediately ceasing these deeply destabilizing activities."
"These tests are a provocation, especially since we have made repeated offers of dialogue," foreign ministry spokeswoman Christine Fages told journalists.
Paris said the tests would heighten concern after it was revealed last week that Iran was building a second uranium enrichment plant.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called the tests "reprehensible" but said they should not distract attention from the talks.
"It is obviously reprehensible as such but it mustn't distract us from the big question of this week, which is how will Iran respond at the meeting with the international community on Thursday?" he told Sky News television.
Germany said the tests were "troubling" ahead of the talks.
"Tehran is testing missiles despite the fact that it wants to talk about regional peace and stability. Ahead of the upcoming talks, this is not a signal that will build trust," foreign ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner said.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, the chief Western nuclear negotiator, expressed concern and said Tehran had produced "a new context" for the talks, although he said the time was not right to discuss further sanctions.
Russia, which has long resisted U.S.-led moves to tighten the screws on Tehran through international sanctions, said the world should not "succumb to emotions" in dealing with the Islamic republic.
"Now is not the time to succumb to emotions, it is necessary to calm down and above all to start up an effective negotiation process," a foreign ministry source was quoted as saying by Interfax.

Iran test-fires missiles amid nuclear tension

TEHRAN: Iran test-fired missiles on Sunday to show it was prepared to head off any military threat, four days before the Islamic Republic is due to hold rare talks with world powers worried about its nuclear ambitions.
The missile manoeuvres coincide with escalating tension in Iran's nuclear row with the West, after last week's disclosure by Tehran that it is building a second uranium enrichment plant.
News of the nuclear facility south of Iran added a sense of urgency to a crucial meeting in Geneva on Thursday between Iranian officials and representatives of six major powers, including the United States.
An Iranian official warned "fabricated Western clamour" over the new plant would negatively affect the talks at which the six powers want Iran to agree to open its facilities to inspection to prove its programme is for power and not nuclear weapons.

Early technology set for auction in London

LONDON: One man's treasure chest of pioneering examples of early technology, including clocks, barometers, silent films, typewriters, microscopes and televisions, is expected to fetch up to £1 million when it goes under the hammer next week.
Collector Michael Bennett-Levy has been amassing examples of early technology from across the centuries for 30 years.
Auction house Bonhams said the collection of 758 items includes many firsts of their kind.
They include the first LED pocket calculators from 1971 estimated to reach between £200 and £300, the Bennet electrostatic friction generator from 1770, valued at £8,000 to £12,000 and the Whimshurst X-ray machine, set to raise £7,000 to £10,000.
Among the exceptional pieces is an "unequalled" group of 26 pre-war televisions.
It is the most comprehensive collection of its type still held in private hands, with only 500 such televisions still estimated to be surviving in the world, Bonhams said.

US Muslims gather outside Capitol Hill to pray

Christians protest as thousands mark "day of Islamic unity"
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DUBAI: Thousands of Muslim men and women gathered Friday outside the United States Capitol in a "day of Islamic unity" to hold a mass prayer and show their religion was peaceful as a group of Christian protestors gathered to object to the event.
Muslims from across America gathered to perform the weekly Friday prayer on lawns outside the building where President Barack Obama was inaugurated in January of this year.
The event, organized by the Dar-ul-Islam Elizabeth mosque in northeastern New Jersey, was aimed at showing the world "that not all Muslims hate America" and was inspired by Obama's attempt to reach out to Muslims.
"We should also extend our hand," Hassan Abdellah, president of the mosque, told the Los Angeles Times.
"The message was clear. I think the message basically was to let the American public know that all the stigmas that are attached to Muslims are not true," participant Lonnie Shabazz told the AFP news agency.
"We're not extremists and we do not subscribe to the trend of racism. I think that message was achieved today," Shabazz said.
But despite the general good spirit, a group of around 50 Christians gathered to protest against the event and waved banners reading "Trust Jesus" as they handed out flyers to Muslims around the prayer area.
"When Islam is weak, they will be the religion of peace," the paper quoted Rusty Thomas, a minister who traveled with Operation Save America to protest the event, as saying. "When they get the upper hand, out comes the sword."
Muslim leaders generally dismissed the protests but Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the times: "What is noteworthy is that when Muslims seek to participate in society, they are going to face a small minority of bigots and racists."
Abdellah, however, sought to ease the protestors concerns and said "Muslims aren't here to take over the country. They're here to help make it better."