A Disassociated Press Report, Washington, D.C., May 27, 2005
By Melody Ormus
U.S. President George W. Bush called on France today to cooperate with American
efforts to locate and arrest members of the Priory of Sion, a secret society
officially listed by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. The call came during an address the
president delivered before the National Guard convention.
"We know that the organization has deep roots in France, and we
have reason to believe that officials in the French government have maintained
contact with Priory leaders over the years," Bush said. "This is unacceptable, and we
believe it's time the French came clean."
The Priory of Sion has recently come into the limelight because of the
popular novel The Da Vinci Code by
author Dan Brown. The organization
is believed to have existed at least since medieval times. Others, however, doubt the Priory of
Sion's real existence.
The president had indicated only last week the Priory of Sion would be
added to the terrorist list. He
cited the Priory's history of violence and instances of defacement of important
works of art by Priory operatives.
The president's remarks today indicated the seriousness with which the
Administration now takes the Priory threat.
"It is simply unbelievable that our long-standing allies in France
would willingly harbor this terrorist group," he said. "That's why I'm asking them to do
everything they can as quickly as they can."
The president referred also to the famous Leonardo Da Vinci painting
the Mona Lisa, which hangs in the
Louvre museum in Paris.
"Don't they know what's been done to that masterpiece?" he
asked at one point. "The Mona
Lisa they have there is a Priory
fake. Can't their experts tell
them this? I mean, the horizon
lines in the woman's background are all screwed up. It's some kind of anti-Christian code that's been painted in
there. How many millions of
dollars in damage is the Priory going to get away with when it comes to the
French national treasures?"
The president's speech ended with a resounding call to French President
Jacques Chirac to "stop harboring terrorists."
Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) criticized the president's remarks in
an interview with CNN later in the day.
"I think the request to the French is premature," McCain
said. "We don't know much about this group, about either its goals or
capabilities. It's important for
American credibility in the world at this point at that any new threat we
indicate is really demonstrably a threat.
I'm not sure the Priory of Sion makes the grade in this regard."
There has yet been no official response from the French.
Email: inthemargins03@hotmail.com
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