French Ruling Party Plans Bill On Broad Burqa Ban

December 22, 2009

Author: Emile Picy, Tamora Vidaillet, and David Stamp

Source: Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BL3NV20091222

France's ruling UMP party plans to present a bill to parliament in January on banning full Islamic veils in all public places and not just in certain buildings, a senior party official said on Tuesday.

The bill would be accompanied by a resolution related to respect for women, Jean-Francois Cope, the parliamentary party leader of President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP, told a news conference.

Both propositions would be handed to parliament during the first two weeks of January, before the conclusions of a French parliamentary inquiry into the all-covering niqab and burqa are published.

France has been moving toward outlawing full Islamic veils in certain public buildings and had appeared to stop short of a broader ban that could violate religious freedom and deepen a rift in the government.