A leading French Muslim group spoke out Saturday against a proposed parliamentary study that could lead to a ban on full-body veils, warning it could deepen social rifts and threaten civil liberties. The French Council for the Muslim Religion urged President Nicolas Sarkozy to defend these liberties, which it said ``form an integral part of the foundations of our nation.'
Dozens of French legislators have proposed a parliamentary commission to study the small but growing trend of wearing burqas and niqabs, and consider banning the Islamic women's gowns in public. A burqa is a full-body covering worn largely in Afghanistan with only a mesh screen over the eyes. More common in France - though still rare - is the niqab, a full-body veil, often in black, with slits for the eyes.
Government spokesman Luc Chatel expressed support Friday for an eventual ban, fueling questions about the place of Islamic garments in this country with a long and proud secular tradition. The Muslim council's president, Mohammed Moussaoui, on Saturday voiced ``firm opposition' to a parliamentary study of the full-body veils. He said only a ``marginal' minority of Muslim women wear them.
``This subject risks yet again seriously stigmatising Islam and Muslims in France,' he said. The issue is highly divisive even within the government. France's junior minister for human rights, Rama Yade, said she was open to a ban if it is aimed at protecting women forced to wear the burqa.
But Immigration Minister Eric Besson said a ban would only ``create tensions.' In 2004, a law banning the Islamic headscarf and other conspicuous religious symbols from French public schools sparked intense debate. France has Western Europe's largest Muslim population, an estimated 5 million people.
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