Morroccan imam / Credit: GETTY IMAGES

A Moroccan imam who lost a court appeal on Tuesday against deportation from France for hate speech has gone missing.

When police arrived at Hassan Iquioussen’s home in Lorches, in northern France, he wasn’t there.

The interior ministry ordered Mr Iquioussen’s expulsion in July over what it called his “especially virulent and anti-Semitic speeches”.

But French cultural, academic and human rights figures claim the case is further evidence of anti-Islamic sentiment in France.

They’ve launched a petition calling on President Emmanuel Macron to stop his deportation.

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