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Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo plans to sue Fox News for 'inaccurate reports' about Muslim 'no-go areas'

The US channel has apologised for a series of reports about Britain and Europe

Andrew Buncombe
Tuesday 20 January 2015 20:50 GMT
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The Mayor Paris has said she is planning to sue Fox News for what she claimed were inaccurate reports about alleged Muslim “no-go areas” in the city.

Anne Hidalgo claimed the people of Paris had been insulted and the city’s image had been damaged.

“When we're insulted, and when we've had an image, then I think we'll have to sue, I think we'll have to go to court, in order to have these words removed,” Ms Hidalgo said in an interview with CNN. “The image of Paris has been prejudiced, and the honour of Paris has been prejudiced.”

When asked to clarify which network she planned to take to court, she replied: “Fox News, that’s the name.”

Ms Hidalgo's remarks come after the conservative network ran multiple reports describing areas of Paris and British cities that were governed by Sharia law and off-limits to non-Muslims.

Steven Emerson, an American author who often is asked about terror networks, told Fox News that in Britain “there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim, where non-Muslims just simply don't go in”.

The network has since apologised for making “regrettable errors on air regarding the Muslim population in Europe”.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Michael Clemente, the Executive Vice President of Fox News, said: “We empathise with the citizens of France as they go through a healing process and return to everyday life. However, we find the Mayor’s comments regarding a lawsuit misplaced.”

Ms Hidalgo’s comments came as a senior US politician tipped as a possible presidential candidate weighed into the controversy over alleged Muslim no-go areas in Europe claiming that some minority communities are seeking to “colonise” the West.

In a speech in London, Bobby Jindal, the Republican Governor of Louisiana, said in some European countries, certain immigrant communities lived outside the reach of the law and the police.

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