Muslim Brings 'The Passion' to France

Theater chains in intolerant, anti-religious France had refused to distribute Mel Gibson's mammoth hit "The Passion of the Christ," but now a Muslim is bringing the movie to the land of Jacques Chirac and Pepe Le Pew.

Tarak ben Ammar, a Tunisian who studied at Georgetown University, said he would distribute the hit in French theaters "in April, over the Easter period."

Ben Ammar, manager of Carthago Films, is a "major film broker with business ties to media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Bersluconi," Reuters reported today.

He produced Franco Zeffirelli's "Jesus of Nazareth" and Roberto Rossellini's "The Messiah" in the 1970s and has taken part in the production of such blockbusters as the "Star Wars" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" series.

"When I saw the film two weeks ago, I was deeply touched because it shows what Christ really went through in his final hours," he told Le Figaro in remarks published today.

"It is a film against fundamentalism," he said. Gibson "wanted to show the barbarity of the Romans, because it was the Romans who killed Christ."

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