France to defy advice and ban burka

President Nicholas Sarkozy defied the advice of experts who warned that a broad ban risked contravening France's constitution.

The measure would put France on the same track as Belgium which is also moving toward a complete ban in a similar reaction to the intrusion of Islamic culture on native European values.

Mr Sarkozy has repeatedly said that such clothing oppresses women and is "not welcome" in France.

A government spokesman said after yesterday's weekly cabinet meeting that the president decided the government should submit a bill to parliament in May on an overall ban on burka-like veils "in all public places."

The decision to seek a full ban, rather than a limited ban, came as a surprise.

After last week's cabinet meeting the government announced a decision for legislation that bans the veil but takes into account conclusions on the matter by the Council of State, France's highest administrative office.

The government had asked the council's opinion to ensure a law would pass constitutional tests. The council advised that a full ban would be "legally very fragile."

A six-month parliamentary inquiry also concluded that a full ban would raise constitutional issues, as well as enforcement problems.

"It's a transgression, an aggression even, on the level of personal liberty," said Abdellatif Lemsibak, a member of the National Federation of Muslims of France.

"The Muslims have the right to an orthodox expression of their religion ... it shocks me."

France is a firmly secular country but has western Europe's largest Muslim population, estimated at five million.

France worries about clashes in values as well as about a spread of radical Islam. Authorities widely see the veil in light of gender equality and security issues. In neighbouring Belgium, a similar initiative for a ban on full veils in public places, including in the streets, is expected to become law in July.

Muslim leaders in France say that the face-covering veil is not a religious requirement of Islam but have cautioned against banning the garment.

The government spokesman said the French president considered that burka-style veils that hide the face, such as niqabs, "do not pose a problem in a religious sense, but threaten the dignity of women."

France outlawed Muslim headscarves and other "ostentatious" religious symbols from classrooms in 2004 after a marathon parliamentary debate.

Numerous schoolgirls wore headscarves in class, but only a tiny

minority of women wear the all-covering veil. Nevertheless, debate on the question of whether a law is needed and how far it should reach has continued for nearly a year.

Muslim leaders say that the debate itself has stigmatised them, as has a national debate on the French identity.

Even within Mr Sarkozy's own conservative UMP party, the question of forbidding face-covering veils in streets is divisive.

One of the party's leading MPs, Jean-Francois Cope, had already filed his own preliminary bill for a global ban on the garments. He called Mr Sarkozy's decision "wise".