A row erupted has over a planned performance by a controversial Muslim rapper at the Bataclan, where 90 people were killed during the November 2015 Paris attacks.

Laurent Wauquiez, leader of the conservative party, The Republicans, said the concert would be “a sacrilege for the victims and a dishonour for France.”

Two lawyers acting for relatives of those killed and injured in the Bataclan massacre said they would launch legal action to get Médine’s planned shows on October 19 and 20 cancelled on the grounds that they pose a threat to public order.

Right-wing MPs started an online petition titled “No to the rapper Médine”, which has garnered more than 9,000 signatures.

Médine, whose full name is Médine Zaouiche, is known for provocative lyrics about Islam and France’s secular tradition. One of his albums is called ‘Jihad’.

However, the 35-year-old rapper, born in the Channel port of Le Havre, has offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the Paris attacks. He says he is against violence and the jihad he is referring to is an individual, internal struggle.