Excerpt:
Local communities in France's immigrant suburbs increasingly organize themselves on Islamic lines rather than following the values of the secular republic, according to a major new sociological study.
Respected political scientist Gilles Kepel, a specialist in the Muslim world, led a team of researchers in a year-long project in Clichy-sous-Bois and Montfermeil, two Paris suburbs that exploded in riots in 2005.
The resulting study − "Suburbs of the Republic" − found that religious institutions and practices are increasingly displacing those of the state and the French Republic, which has a strong secular tradition.