Molenbeek mayor on causes of extremism

(27 Nov 2015) The mayor of a Belgian town where two of the Paris attacks suspects hailed from said Friday that economic problems and hate speech by extremist preachers helped contribute to radicalisation and extremism in the area. Molenbeek is a densely populated area in the Belgian capital Brussels, with majority of its residents being of North African origin. Francoise Schepmans, the mayor of the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean municipality, said social and economic problems in her local community helped contribute to the radicalisation and extremism seen among some of the town's residents. The family house of Salah and Brahim Abdeslam, two of the Paris attacks suspects, is just opposite the city hall. The neighbourhood gained the dubious reputation of a breeding ground for jihadists after the attacks in the French capital. Schepmans says local authorities have good ties with the local Muslim community, but acknowledged more needed to be done to keep watch on mosques that did not interact with the authorities. The mayor said a dangerous mix of fundamentalist rhetoric, socio-economic problems and petty crime led resulted in the violent radicalisation of some indidvuals. "So we at all costs must come together, work with more confidence in this area, with programmes, especially with programmes for education and schooling for the people. We must also work on security measures to fight street crime," said Schepmans. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...