Bardot decries 'Islamization of France'

Brigitte Bardot, French film goddess turned animal rights activist, was quoted yesterday as criticising the "Islamisation of France" in her latest book.

The tabloid France Soir said Bardot, who has been fined twice for inciting racial hatred, made the comments in her book A Scream in the Silence.

"I am against the Islamisation of France ... For centuries our forefathers, the ancients, our grandfathers, our fathers gave their lives to chase all successive invaders from France," the paper quoted her book as saying.

The comments are likely to create a stir in France, home to five million Muslims, where the rise of radical Islam in schools has already sparked a heated debate over the wearing of the traditional Muslim headscarf in the country's secular schools.