Muslim prayer hall is ransacked by Koran-burning demonstrators chanting 'Arabs get out' on the French island of Corsica Furious mob smashed glass and burned the Koran in the prayer hall attack In response to two firefighters being wounded by 'several hooded youths' Up to 600 protesters gathered at the police HQ in capital Ajaccio on Friday Marched in the city chanting 'This is our home' before last night's violence
Up to 600 French protesters desecrated a Muslim prayer hall in Corsica in a revenge attack prompted by the wounding of two firefighters and a police officer.
The furious mob smashed the prayer hall's glass door, ransacked the interior and left around 50 partially-burned Korans littering the street overnight.
Chanting 'Arabs get out!' and 'This is our home', protesters marched through the streets of the French Mediterranean island's capital, Ajaccio.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls described the attack on Twitter as 'an unacceptable desecration', and branded the violence towards the firefighters as an 'intolerable attack'.
The violence began on the night of December 24, when two firefighters were 'ambushed' by 'several hooded youths' in the low-income neighbourhood of Jardins de L'Empereur.
It escalated when several hundred people gathered in front of police headquarters in the capital city, before marching through the streets to the housing estate where the attack on the firefighters took place.
They then launched the violent assault on the local prayer room.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazaneuve insisted the perpetrators of both incidents would be tracked down and arrested, adding that there was no place for 'racism and xenophobia' in France.
He said of the attack on the firefighters that he hoped 'the authors of the violence would be identified and arrested as soon as possible'.
Anouar Kbibech, president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), said he had learnt of the mosque attack and the burning of 'several copies of the Koran' with 'distress'.
Dalil Boubakeur, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, said he was 'dismayed and saddened' by the events on Corsica in an appearance on France's BFMTV, calling for 'calm and cool heads'.
