Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal continued to claim that Muslim "no-go zones" exist in Europe on Monday, even after British political leaders and American media outlets, including Fox News, declared that there is "no credible information" that such areas exist in France and England.
Since the Paris terrorist attacks two weeks ago, controversial statements have repeatedly made headlines about how some European countries allow Muslims to establish autonomous neighborhoods governed by a harsh version of Islamic law, where non-Muslims are unwelcome and police authorities decline to keep patrol, the Associated Press reported.
"In the West, non-assimilationist Muslims establish enclaves and carry out as much of Sharia law as they can without regard for the laws of the democratic countries which provided them a new home," Jindal, a potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate, said during a speech on Islamic extremism to the Henry Jackson Society, a conservative British think tank, in London on Monday.
"It is startling to think that any country would allow, even unofficially, for a so called 'no-go zone.' The idea that a free country would allow for specific areas of its country to operate in an autonomous way that is not free and is in direct opposition to its laws is hard to fathom," the Republican said.
But CNN reporter Max Foster challenged Jindal during an interview on Monday, saying "I've lived here a long time; I don't know of any no-go zones."
Jindal responded, "I've heard from folks here that there are neighborhoods where women don't feel comfortable going in without veils. That's wrong. We all know that there are neighborhoods where police are less likely to go into."
"I think that the radical left absolutely wants to pretend like this problem is not here. Pretending it's not here won't make it go away," he said, failing to provide examples of where "no-go zones" are located.
"I think your viewers know absolutely there are places where the police are less likely to go. They absolutely know there are neighborhoods where they wouldn't feel comfortable," he added in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer after his London speech.
However the claims have been firmly denied by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has insisted that "no-go zones" don't exist in the United Kingdom, according to The Times-Picayune.
"When I heard this, I frankly choked on my porridge and I thought it must be April Fool's Day," said Cameron, about the existence of "no-go zones" in England.
Similar controversial comments were first made by a Fox News commentator last week, who later apologized after Cameron was harshly critical, OnPolitics reported.
"To be clear, there is no formal designation of these zones in either country and no credible information to support the assertion there are specific areas in these countries that exclude individuals based solely on their religion," said Julie Banderas, a Fox News anchor in a correction aired by the network.
"There are certainly areas of high crime in Europe as there are in the United States and other countries - where police and visitors enter with caution," Banderas said. We deeply regret the errors and apologize to any and all who may have taken offense, including the people of France and England."
