KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad tweeted after a deadly attack in Nice yesterday that Muslims had a right "to kill millions of French people", sparking widespread anger and prompting Twitter to delete his post.
He made the comment in a series of tweets after yesterday's killing of three people in a church in France.
Referring to the recent beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty in Paris, who showed caricatures of Prophet Muhammad in a class on freedom of expression, Tun Dr Mahathir said he did not approve of the attack, but freedom of expression does not include "insulting other people".
The caricatures are seen as blasphemous by Muslims.
"Irrespective of the religion professed, angry people kill," he said.
"The French in the course of their history have killed millions of people. Many were Muslims. Muslims have a right to be angry and to kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past."
But he added that "by and large, the Muslims have not applied the 'eye for an eye' law. Muslims don't. The French shouldn't".
He said French President Emmanuel Macron was "not showing that he is civilised".
"The French should teach their people to respect other people's feelings. Since you have blamed all Muslims and the Muslims' religion for what was done by one angry person, the Muslims have a right to punish the French," he said.
He made no direct reference to the Nice attack.
His comments sparked widespread condemnation, with social media users labelling them "outrageous" and "disgraceful".
Twitter initially flagged his tweet about killing "millions of French people" as "glorifying violence" but did not remove it.
But shortly afterwards, the tweet was deleted entirely.
The beheading of Mr Paty prompted Mr Macron to promise a crackdown on Islamic extremism. But the move has inflamed tensions, with protests against France erupting in several Muslim countries, and some urging a boycott of French goods.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
