Corsican lawmakers have called on the French state to close down radical mosques on the Mediterranean island, hours after an underground separatist movement issued a threat against Islamic extremists.

The regional parliament yesterday adopted a resolution urging Paris to ensure the immediate closure in Corsica "of prayer or meeting places that act as centres of radicalisation or where hateful speeches are made, creating an atmosphere that is favourable to violence".

The resolution was adopted with a landslide, with MPs from the nationalist, left and right parties voting for, and only three Communists abstaining.