BRUSSELS, July 13: British Home Secretary Charles Clarke on Wednesday ruled out setting up surveillance at mosques, following a proposal to do so by French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

“We are considering the position of some of the preachers in certain circumstances and if it is necessary to do so,” Clarke said in Brussels after a meeting of EU interior ministers.

“But I think to move to an overall position that says surveillance is the right way is a big step which we need to consider carefully.

“It is important in everything that we do, that we work with the legitimate mainstream Muslim community and do not alienate what they do,” he said.

In his statement to the ministers, Mr Sarkozy said that places of worship should be watched to help stop radical preachers recruiting militants.

Mr Clarke said he did not criticize the proposal but that he thought Mr Sarkozy might have been proposing something that was more appropriate for France. —AFP