The Muslim Observer: Paris, Feb 18- Islam can help stabalize France and the state should support Muslims building mosques, Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement said.

He told the newspaper Le Monde in comments published on Friday that the time had come to give the Muslim community the same legal standing as Catholics, Protestants, and Jews.

Islam is the second-largest religion in France.

Chevenement said French Muslims, who in line with Islamic practice have no organized clergy or central authority, should create an official body to represent them when dealing with the state, he said.

Most of France's four million Muslims are residents of North African origin, about half of them French citizens. Roman Catholics are in the majority France.

"Islam can also be a stabalizing element in French society," said Chevenement, a left-winger who has been both tough on illegal immigration and broad-minded about integrating foreigners living legally in France.

"Islam is the only great religion whose practice in France has no overall organization."

Chevenement said many Muslims did not know the state could help them build mosques and said local officials should help them guarantee bank credits for their construction costs.

He stressed his effort to integrate Muslims more into French society did not amount to support for Islamic fundamentalists, noting his interior ministry was responsible for public order.

The lack of a central authority to deal with the state has put Muslims at a disadvantage to other religions in some areas of French life. There are no private Islamic schools and no Muslim chaplains in schools, the military or hospitals.