MAHATHIR CONDEMNED FOR JUSTIFYING MURDERS OF THE FRENCH

Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad tweeted that Muslims had a right "to kill millions of French people" after a deadly attack in Nice, sparking widespread anger and prompting Twitter to delete his post, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. 

Three people were killed at a church in the southern French city, with the attacker slitting the throat of at least one, in what authorities were treating as the latest jihadist assault to rock the country. 

Shortly afterwards, Mahathir -- the prime minister of Muslim-majority Malaysia until his government collapsed in February -- launched an extraordinary outburst in a series of tweets. Twitter initially declined to remove the comments, but finally did so following a furious reaction from the French government. Mahathir is a physician sworn to the Latin oath “primum non nocere,” or “first, do no harm.” 

Cedric O, the French junior minister for digital affairs, said in a tweet in French and English: "I just spoke with the MD (managing director) of @TwitterFrance. The account of @chedetofficial must be immediately suspended. If not, @twitter would be an accomplice to a formal call for murder." Twitter initially flagged Mahathir's tweet about killing "millions of French people" as "glorifying violence" but did not remove it. However, shortly afterwards, the tweet was deleted entirely, and Twitter told AFP it was because the comments "violated policy regarding glorification of violence." Mahathir never made a direct reference to the attack in Nice, however.