The French ministry of culture will allow cinemas to show the controversial film "Salafistes", which features interviews with North African jihadists, but have banned it for anyone under 18 in a rare move for a documentary in France.

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The over-18 rating is normally only given to pornographic or ultra-violent films.

According to the filmmakers, the move will "kill the film", as it effectively bans it from being aired on public TV and means cinemas will be reluctant to show it.

"Salafistes", whose title refers to the ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam that drives movements such as al Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group, drew accusations of promoting terrorism by showing frank interviews with jihadists bent on attacking Western, and in particular French, targets.

It was also accused of beingIslamist militia commander from northern Mali, who became known as spokesman and chief of staff for the jihadist groups Ansar Dine and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO). Both groups are associated with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb or AQIM.

"By nature, man rebels against the will of God and is a slave to his passions," Hamaha, who was killed in 2014, says in the film. "One must act with force to make him submit. This will be done by the sword, and it is with the sword that the jihad will be spread."

In the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, Salafist preachers in the streets share their vision of jihad. Asked about the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, they said the victims "got what they deserved".

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