PARIS (AFP) - A row has erupted in France over plans to build a mosque in Strasbourg, with the interior ministry on Wednesday (March 24) accusing the municipal authorities there of using public money to fund "foreign meddling" on French soil.

While President Emmanuel Macron wants to crack down on Islamic extremism, which he blames for a series of deadly terror attacks in France since 2015, the planned mosque in the eastern French city has found itself in the government's crosshairs because it is backed by a leading Turkish Muslim group.