The Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), the political party of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, was forced on Tuesday to cancel a public debate organized in its headquarters, amid concerns that the debate would spark new accusations of racism and discrimination.

Titled “Immigration, Islamism: Is France Threatened?,” the controversial debate did not come at a good time for UMP, which is now presenting a new bill on immigration in the Assemblee Nationale (National Assembly), the lower house of French bicameral Parliament.

“We have chosen this time to really participate in Parliament discussions on future immigration law, as they are starting this week and will be at full intensity on that day,” explained the Droite Libre (Free Right), the UMP-associated group that organized the meeting.

“These issues are a concern to our fellow citizens, yet they almost never have a chance to discuss them; those who dare to mention immigration and Islam are framed by the intellectual terror of ‘political correctness.’”

Seven foreign workers were kidnapped near a uranium mining zone in Niger. Five are French and the other two are from Togo and Madagascar, according to the New York Times.
Two of the hostages are an employee of Areva, the French nuclear engineering firm, and his wife, whereas the other five worked for Sogea-Satom, a subsidiary of Vinci that is contracted to Areva in Niger.
Areva and Vinci, as well as Bernard Valero, a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson, have confirmed that the workers were kidnapped kidnapped in Arlit, a town in the northern part of the country, during the night between Wednesday and Thursday. The two companies released a joint statement saying that security around the area has been increased.
“France will do everything to liberate them, as we do each time,” President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters, as quoted by the Times, also noting that the Sahel region is “extremely dangerous.