Ban on head scarves 'needed'

2004-01-25 13:29

Paris - France needs a law to ban Islamic head scarves from public schools to ensure that the country is not "eroded from within" by Muslim fundamentalists and others, the French prime minister said in an interview published at the weekend.

Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told the Sunday newspaper "Le Journal du Dimanche" that he would personally present the bill to the National Assembly on February 3. The interview was made available Saturday night.

The text of the law is to be presented to the Cabinet on Wednesday. The government wants the law to take force in the new school year in September.

The planned law would ban conspicuous religious symbols from public schools, including Jewish skullcaps, large Christian crosses and Islamic head scarves - the main target of the legislation.

Up to 10 000 people demonstrated in Paris a week ago to protest the project - perceived by some as discriminatory - and got support in scattered protests around the world. Some governments have even raised an eyebrow.

"It is important to show that the Republic ... cannot accept allowing itself to be eroded from within," the centre-right Raffarin said. He added that France "is open and tolerant but knows how to be firm and ensure that its values are respected".

President Jacques Chirac decided that a law was necessary to safeguard secularism, a fundamental principle of modern-day France.

There is growing concern in France that Muslim fundamentalists are gaining a voice within this country's estimated 5 million-strong Muslim community - the largest in Western Europe.

"To fundamentalists who want to attack the basis of our republic, I say there is no question of that," Raffarin was quoted as saying. "The Republic must defend itself and have the means to make itself respected. Including by the law."

The decision to pass a law was the result of a yearslong debate over the wearing of Muslim head scarves in classrooms. Numerous students have been expelled from school over the years for refusing to take off their scarves.

In the interview, Raffarin also reiterated that the government had but one voice on the project. He was responding to reports that Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin had expressed reservations about the proposed law.

According to a source, de Villepin told other Cabinet members during a closed-door meeting earlier Thursday that a ban would put "France in a very delicate situation on the international stage." The source spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

The foreign ministry on Thursday said that remarks by de Villepin had been "distorted and do not correspond to the content of the exchanges."

Raffarin said that the remarks by de Villepin, who had just completed a tour of the Persian Gulf region where he explained the planned law, "were maliciously misinterpreted as reservations".

- AP