President Sarkozy has risked the wrath of Muslims by backing demands for the burkha to be banned.

He declared that the full-body religious gown is a sign of the debasement of women.

In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity, he said to extended applause in Versailles, at a joint session of France's two houses of parliament: The burkha is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement. It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic.

The president was supporting a weekend call by dozens of French politicians for a parliamentary commission to study whether the burkha, which is growing in popularity in France, should be banned.

Al-Qaeda's North Africa wing has threatened to take revenge on France for its opposition to the burka, calling on Muslims to retaliate against the country, the US monitoring service SITE Intelligence reported.

Earlier this month, President Nicolas Sarkozy said the burka, which covers the whole face, was not welcome in the strictly secular country.

Yesterday was the hijab (the Islamic headscarf long banned in French schools) and today, it is the niqab (the full veil), Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, head of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was quoted as saying: We will take revenge for the honour of our daughters and sisters against France and against its interests by every means at our disposal.

The group also called on Muslims to retaliate for what it called French hostility against the community and its attempt to obstruct Islam's practice on its territory. For us, the mujahedeen ... we will not remain silent to such provocations and injustices, Abdul Wadud said without elaborating, according to SITE.

We call upon all Muslims to confront this hostility with greater hostility, and to counter France's efforts to divide male and female believers from their faith with a greater effort ... (by) adherence to the teachings of their Islamic sharia.

A French muslim woman has been banned from wearing a 'burkini' in a swimming pool outside Paris.

The woman, named only as Carole was told that the garment, a swimsuit that covers most of the body, was inappropriate clothing for a public baths.

Pool staff said her three-piece Islamic swimsuit she bought in Dubai - consisting of a headscarf, tunic and trousers - was against pool regulations and unhygienic.

They had reminded her of the rules that apply in all [public] swimming pools which forbid swimming while clothed, said Daniel Guillaume, a manager at the pool in the suburb of Emerainville.

The ban was imposed as President Nicolas Sarkozy's government is considering an outright ban on all Islamic dress, such as the head-to-toe burka or niqab, that it considers a sign of subservience and not welcome in France.

Yannick Decompois, the district swimming pools director, said: This has nothing to do with secularism, but is a simply a hygiene problem. For the same reasons men are also banned from wearing shorts.

André Gérin, a Communist MP, who is heading a parliamentary commission looking at whether to ban the burka, said the burkini was militant provocation and should be banned.

Denmark's Conservative Party wants to extend the ban on Taleban symbol to all public places in Denmark

The governing party has rejected a proposal from its coalition partner, the Conservative Party, to ban people from covering their face with clothing such as burkas and niqabs.

We do not want to see burkas in Denmark, said Naser Khader, the integration spokesman for the Conservatives. Khader, who immigrated to Denmark from Syria and who helped established the Modern Muslims group, said the burka symbolised the Taleban and oppression of women. It had nothing do to with Islam.

Under the ban, women would not be prevented from wearing other forms of headscarves. It would apply to all public areas but not people’s homes. A penalty for violating the potential ban had not yet been considered.

The Conservatives’ proposal received the support of the Danish People’s Party, a key government ally, and the opposition Social Democrats. But the party’s government ally, the prime minister’s Liberal Party, said legislating against certain types of clothing was a step too far.

Burkas should not be permitted for people who work in the public sector, Peter Christiansen, the party’s political spokesperson, said: But that’s where we draw the line.

Muslim women have been banned from wearing the body-concealing swimming costume known as a burqini in the northern Italian town of Varallo Sesia.

Women wearing the garment, made up of a veil, a tunic and loose leggings, face a fine of €500 (£430) if they are spotted at swimming pools or rivers, the ANSA news agency reported.

The anti-immigration mayor of the northern Piedmont town said: The sight of a 'masked woman' could disturb small children, not to mention problems of hygiene.

All female staff at Dubai Bank, Muslim and non-Muslim, must wear a shailah (head scarf) and abaya (black cloak covering the whole body) starting this Ramadan, Gulf News has learnt.

A memo sent to staff says the bank has decided that all Muslim and non-Muslim female staff must wear a shailah and abaya.

A Dubai Bank official who would not reveal his name said a memo was issued to this effect by the human resources manager, informing employees that starting from the first day of Ramadan all female employees must wear a shailah and abaya regardless of their religion.

Our bank is Islamic and must follow Sharia in all respects, which will satisfy our clients, he said. While the decision takes effect beginning first of Ramadan, it has become a rule and part of the dress code for female employees at all times.

Female students in the Gaza Strip will be required to wear head coverings and full-length robes beginning this school year, the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip have announced.

According to the new regulations, any female student that does not attend class in the proper attire will be sent home.

The ministry also has ruled that male teachers cannot teach in girls' schools and women are not allowed to teach at boys' schools.

These guidelines join an increasing amount of reports from Gaza residents saying that modesty patrols were forcing women to wear head coverings, especially at Gaza's beaches, and that they were inspecting isolated cars in order to prevent unmarried couples being alone together.

Denmark's Conservative Party shelved a proposal to ban the burka after lawyers warned it could violate human rights, the justice minister said.

The centre-right party is the junior member in a minority coalition government with the Liberals, which opposed banning the full body garment worn by some Muslim women.

Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen, a Conservative, said government lawyers had advised a ban could breach the European Convention of Human Rights and the Danish constitution. It is clear to me as minister of justice ... that we cannot sign up to a project that raises such legal issues, he said in a statement. But Mikkelsen added that a working group had been set up by the government to explore other ways of fighting against the burka's spreading popularity in public places. The burka represents a view of women that has no place in Denmark, he said in the statement.

Italy has become the latest European government to announce it was considering introducing a law which would make wearing a burqa illegal.

MPs from the anti-immigration Northern League party, a member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's ruling right wing coalition, have presented the proposal in a bill.

Italy has more than one million Muslims but it is rare to see women wearing the full burqa.

The Northern League's proposal aims at amending a 1975 law, introduced amid concern over domestic terrorism, which bans anyone wearing anything which makes their identification impossible. The only exceptions are for justified cause - which until now has been interpreted to include religious reasons in court rulings against local bans on the burqa.

The Muslim Canadian Congress has asked Ottawa to ban the public wearing of the burka and the niqab in Canada. The two items are Middle Eastern clothing used for covering a woman's face.

Congress spokeswoman Farzana Hassan said the two garments are symbols of extremism and should not be worn in a country that supports gender equality. Hassan described the burka and the niqab as medieval and misogynist.

By covering their faces, Middle Eastern women hide their identity, which could be used as an excuse to hide criminals. Hassan pointed out it is a cultural practice that has Middle Eastern roots, instead of being tied up with the Islamic religion.

Hassan stressed the Koran and the Sharia law did not prescribe Islamic women to cover their faces with clothing. She added women are banned from wearing the burka inside the grand mosque in Mecca, which should justify the proposed prohibition of the practice in Canada.

The controversy over a ban of fully-veiled women in Egypt is sweeping the Middle East region, including Kuwait, with some voices against the full veil, niqab, and some others in favor.

Egypt's leading cleric, Mohammad Tantawi, has issued a fatwa (religious edict) saying that wearing a face veil was not an obligation for women under Islam. Salafist Kuwaiti lawmaker Mohammed Hayef Al-Mutairi has lambasted the senior Egyptian cleric by branding Tantawi's statement as shameless.

The clergyman's edict triggered an edict by Kuwait's fatwa authority at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs. The Kuwaiti edict rules that wearing hijab is mandatory for Muslim women. The Elections Law allows women to vote and run for an office provided they comply with Islamic Sharia, said conservative MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaie. He added that the Fatwa issued by the Awqaf Ministry confirms that women's hijabs is an obligation for Muslim women.

Sunni Muslim scholars are divided on whether a woman must cover her face, with the majority saying it is not an obligation, but all mainstream scholars agree a woman must cover her hair and her body with loose fitting clothes. Most Muslim women in Egypt wear the hijab, a veil that covers the hair, but an increase in women wearing the niqab has apparently alarmed the government. The ministry of religious endowments has distributed booklets in mosques against the practice.

In Kuwait, female drivers are barred from wearing the niqab due to security reasons. The regulation came about almost 10 years ago when Kuwaiti security authorities were pursuing sleeper terrorist cells. Authorities feared that the niqab individuals belonging to such cells could use the niqab to pass through checkpoints unnoticed.

Kuwait's highest court has ruled that women lawmakers are not obliged by law to wear the headscarf, a blow to the Muslims who want to fully impose Islamic Sharia law.

The Constitutional Court dismissed a case claiming that two of four women elected to parliament in May — Rola Dashti and Aseel al-Awadhi — can not be members of the legislature because they don't comply with the Islamic dress code.

Last week, the same court granted married women the right to obtain a passport without their husband's approval, saying the decades-old requirement was unconstitutional and compromised their humanity.

Switzerland's justice minister has said that her country could ban full-body Muslim veils.

Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said seeing a woman in a burqa makes her uncomfortable.

If the number of women wearing a burqa increases, we could study a possible ban, said Widmer-Schlumpf at a news conference.

France will issue recommendations against full face veils but not pass a law barring Muslim women from wearing them.

Andre Gerin, chairman of a parliamentary inquiry into use of full face veils in France, reluctantly ruled out a ban one day after President Nicolas Sarkozy repeated his conviction that France is a country that has no place for the burqa.

France banned Muslim headscarves in state schools in 2004 following a similar inquiry and looked set to bring in an outright ban on veils covering the whole face, such as burqas or niqabs, when it launched the panel last June at the request of Gerin, a Communist deputy from Lyon.

But at its weekly hearings, legal experts, local officials, Muslim leaders and even some militant secularists have told the deputies on the panel that a ban could be anti-constitutional, counterproductive and impossible to enforce.

Gerin, who denounces the head-to-toe veils as walking coffins, told Europe 1 radio: We'll end up with recommendations ... not a law in itself against the burqa, maybe a symbolic law, a law of liberation (of women).

Backing off from a complete ban, he said the panel might propose radical measures to ban full face veils in municipal hospitals and other public institutions, but gave no details.

France could ban face-covering by Muslim women under a law drawing on sexual equality and public safety.

Jean-Francis Copé, the parliamentary leader of President Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement, said that wearing the burka had nothing to do with religion, but was about extremists who are testing the limits of the Republic.

He said that France's guarantees on sexual equality could be invoked, along with public safety, as the basis for a ban. People in France are expected to bare their faces, he said, and schools, for example, should not hand children after classes to people whose faces they cannot see.

No decisions have yet been taken and legal experts were trying to ensure that any legislation would not fall foul of the European Convention on Human Rights, he added. Related Links

Next month a parliamentary committee is to recommend measures to prevent women from wearing full veils. A police intelligence report leaked yesterday said that about 2,000 women in France covered their faces for religious reasons.

The cantonal parliament of Zurich has rejected a proposal by the far right Swiss People's Party (SVP) – Switzerland's largest party - to ban headscarves for female Muslim students in Swiss schools. The proposal was aimed at instilling respect of Swiss values in schools, the party's leadership says, and that people who settled in Switzerland needed to realise they could not turn up to work in a headscarf.

Adrian Amstutz, parliamentarian and senior member of the SVP is one of the strongest supporters of those bans: Muslims must be spurred to integrate into society, he said to Swiss News Worldwide. The more moderate, centre right Christian Democratic Party, has been advocating the ban on burqas, a body covering including a face veil, in a bid to defend women's rights.

The UK Independence Party is considering a call to ban the wearing of burka, it is reported, in an attempt to broaden its appeal. It would be the first national party to call for a total ban on the Islamic headgear; the far-right British National Party believes they should be banned from schools.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch, the leader of Ukip, wants to raise the issue of the influence of Sharia law in Britain, according to a report in The Times. He told the newspaper: We are taking expert advice on how we could do it. It makes sense to ban the burka — or anything which conceals a woman's face — in public buildings. But we want to make it possible to ban them in private buildings. It isn't right that you can't see someone's face in an airport.

The newspaper said Ukip would make an announcement on Sunday describing the burka as a threat to gender equality and claiming that it marginalises women and endangers public safety because terrorists could use them to hide their identity.

Women who wear Islamic veils in public in France face a £700 fine under new laws being proposed.

The amount could be doubled for Muslim men who force female members of their family to cover their faces.

Jean-Francois Cope, president of Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling UMP Party, said the legislation was intended to protect the dignity and security of women.

He is set to file the draft law in the National Assembly after Sarkozy said veils were not welcome because they intimidated non-Muslims. We want a ban in public areas, said Cope, making it clear the veil would not be allowed in public buildings, or on the streets of France. He added: The wearing of the burka will be subject to a fine, probably of 750 euros. The fine would apply to all people on the public street whose face is entirely covered.

Sarkozy has called burkas a sign of subservience that imprison women, while immigration minister Eric Besson described them as an affront to national identity.

Update: Public Support

26th January 2010. Based on article from timesonline.co.uk

A report drawn up by French MPs will this week call for a ban on Afghan-style burqas and other garments that cover a woman's face.

The proposal has strong public support. According to an opinion poll by Ipsos for the magazine Le Point, 57% of voters favour a ban while 37% are opposed.

The recommendations of a parliamentary commission are expected to include a bar on wearing full veils on public transport and in schools, hospitals and public-sector offices including post offices. The commission is thought likely to call for a total ban after further consultation.

Spearheading the call for a complete ban is Jean-Francois Copé, head of the UMP faction in the lower house, who claims to have the backing of 200 MPs. Supporters of a total ban, who include Francois Fillon, the prime minister, argue that it would protect public safety and women's rights.

Update: Lawmakers Propose Ban

27th January 2010. Based on article from kippreport.com

French lawmakers have now called for a ban on the burqa in hospitals, schools and on public transport.

The ban on the veil would apply to anyone seeking public services, but it would not apply to people wearing the burqa on the street, according to a French parliamentary commission.

The commission was convened after French President Nicolas Sarkozy controversially told lawmakers last June that the traditional Muslim garment was not welcome in France.

Update: French Nationality Refused

6th February 2010. See article from thescotsman.scotsman.com

French prime minister François Fillon is to sign a decree denying French nationality to a man who acknowledged forcing his French wife to wear a burqa-style veil.

Fillon said French law allowed authorities to refuse nationality applications from those who did not respect the country's values.

Denmark's government says face-covering Muslim veils don't belong in Danish society but no ban is needed because their use can be limited under existing rules.

The centre-right government said the burqa - an all-covering dress - and the niqab face veil are diametrically opposed to the values on which Danish society is built.

It called for the full use of existing rules that allow schools, as well as both public and private employers, to demand that students, teachers and workers show their faces.

The use of the burqa or niqab ... deprives women of the right to interact in the Danish society on equal footing with men and women who do not wear the burqa or niqab, the government said.

In Sweden, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said face-covering veils represent the oppression of women. But he said he didn't support a ban, because that would make some women more isolated.

Egypt's steady drift towards religion has been well documented. But now there are signs of a backlash.

In trendy clubs and cafés across Cairo, the hair and neck-covering scarf known as the hijab is increasingly being shunned as unacceptable dress.

Several bars and restaurants where alcohol is served now essentially ban veiled women from entering. The policy is more open in some places than others but seems to apply to at least half a dozen Cairo venues. Related Links

Club and restaurant managers refused to comment on the record about the ban, but several questioned why a devout veiled woman would even want to attend venues that served alcohol. One manager of a Cairo club, however, said that the restrictions were less about protecting the veiled women from sinful environments than about shielding the club's core clients from having to look at veiled women. It causes a lot of discomfort and doesn't create the atmosphere I need to make money, the manager said. I can either make my regulars comfortable or I make the other 1% comfortable.

Our relationship with religion has become so schizophrenic and love-hate, said Ethar al-Katatney, a young veiled journalist and regular contributor to the Muslimah Media Watch website, which tracks global issues relating to Muslim women. We're actually more judgmental to muhajabat [veiled women] than they would be in the West.

Philip Hollobone, Conservative MP for Kettering, told the Commons: This is Britain. We are not a Muslim country. Covering your face in public is strange, and to many people both intimidating and offensive. I seriously think that a ban on wearing the burka in public should be considered.

His call came in a debate on International Women's Day and follows previous comments by the MP that wearing a burka was like going round with a paper bag over your head.

Hollobone said wearing the full-face burka was oppressive and regressive to the advancement of women in society. By wearing them, women were effectively saying they did not want any normal human dialogue or interaction with anyone else, and effectively saying our society is so objectionable ... we aren't even allowed to cast a glance upon them.

Update: Equality Nonsense

24th March 2010. Based on article from dailymail.co.uk

Philip Hollobone MP has been investigated by police for alleged racial hatred after criticising the burka during a Commons debate.

Northamptonshire Race Equality Council, which is funded by taxpayers, complained to police. they also sent the MP a letter criticising his stance.

Hollobone said the group wanted to see him prosecuted for inciting religious hatred but the Crown Prosecution Service has decided not to take action: What we cannot have in this country are MPs being threatened when they speak out on contentious issues. The judgment of Northamptonshire Race Equality Council is quite wrong in speaking to police as they haven't tried to engage in any debate. It's complete hypocrisy. They talk on one hand about freedom of speech and expression and then without even making contact try to get me prosecuted.

A police spokesman said: It was brought to our attention and we looked into it but the CPS decided there was no case to answer.

Anjona Roy, of the race equality council, said: Even though the CPS said there were not enough grounds to proceed, cautionary words were issued. In our view that is a positive outcome.

The Canadian province of Quebec has passed landmark legislation that stipulates Muslim women will need to uncover their faces when dealing with Quebec government services.

The bill says people obtaining or delivering services at places such as health or auto insurance offices will need to do so with their faces in plain view. The law covers all garments ranging from the face veil to the burqa, a traditional head-to-toe veil worn by some Muslim women. It says people's face-coverings will not be tolerated if they hinder communication or visual identification.

Premier Jean Charest told a news conference that the province was drawing a line in defense of gender equality and secular public institutions.

Salam Elmenyawi of the Muslim Council of Montreal questioned the need to legislate against such a small minority of the population. It is a knee-jerk reaction to the opposition and vote-grabbing more than anything else, he said, adding the law was unlikely to encourage integration of Muslim immigrants.

France's top administrative body has advised the government that any total ban on face-covering Islamic veils could be unconstitutional.

The State Council also said a ban could be justified in some public places.

Prime Minster Francois Fillon had asked the council for a legal opinion before drawing up a law on the subject.

The State Council is required to give an opinion before any major piece of legislation is drafted in France.

However, Jean Leonetti, the deputy parliamentary leader of Sarkozy's UMP party, said a ban needs to be complete or else it is misunderstood. We still are of the view that a message needs to be sent that is clear and does not waver in terms of its implementation.

President Sarkozy has said more than once that the face-covering veil is not welcome in France, and that he wants a law restricting it.

Women could be jailed for wearing a burqa under new laws to go before Belgium's parliament.

The draft legislation, aimed at clamping down on Islamic extremism, forbids anyone from hiding their faces in public.

And those who break the law will be fined or sent to prison for up to a week if the legislation is approved.

A committee of MPs voted unanimously to put the hard-line bill to a full parliamentary vote on 22 April.

If passed, Belgium will become the first country in Europe to impose a complete ban on the wearing of full-face veils. The law has cross-party support and is likely to be voted through.

The text of the proposed new law does not specifically mention burqas. Instead, it makes it illegal for any person to wear clothing that covers all or most of the face in any public place, including pavements, parks, schools, shops and all public buildings.

We cannot allow someone to claim the right to look at others without being seen, said liberal MP Daniel Bacquelaine, who proposed the bill. It is necessary that the law forbids the wearing of clothes that totally mask and encloses an individual.

The proposed law stipulates that local mayors could suspend the ban on veils during festivities such as Carnival, when people traditionally wear costumes, including masks.

Bangladesh's high court has banned educational institutions in the Muslim-majority country from bullying female employees into wearing headscarves or veils.

Wearing a burka or niqab in the South Asian country is not compulsory, but women are often pressured into adopting Muslim headwear, which is tantamount to sexual harassment, Sara Hossain, a barrister, told AFP: It is a woman's personal choice to cover her head or not and nobody can force them to do so against their will, she said, quoting the court ruling.

The high court decision followed a case lodged by a headmistress who claimed she was verbally assaulted by a government official for not covering her hair during a staff meeting. The government official has since been ordered by the court to apologise, Ms Hossain said.

Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered the French government to prepare legislation paving the way for a total ban on the full Islamic veil.

Government spokesman Luc Chatel said that proposals for a full ban on the niqab and burqa would be submitted to parliament in the coming months and could theoretically be made law by summer. Plans to outlaw the garments, he added, were in line with the wishes of the head of state, who has repeatedly made clear his aversion to face-covering veils.

The ban on the full veil must be total in all public places because women's dignity cannot be watered down, said Chatel, keeping to the official line that a ban would be in keeping with republican French values of gender equality and secularism. He added: Everything must be done to ensure that no one feels stigmatised because of their faith or religious beliefs. The president and the prime minister have asked all members of the government to commit to this point.

However it was denounced by the mediator of the French republic, Jean-Paul Delevoye, who said that a partial ban would be preferable to a more wide-ranging law. He also supported the verdict of France's highest constitutional body, which earlier this year said such a radical move could be unconstitutional. I think the council of state gave rather interesting advice which said that, in certain places and at certain times, it would be suitable to ban the full veil, Delevoye told French radio.

Earlier this year a parliamentary commission set up by Sarkozy recommended that the full veil be banned in certain public services such as hospitals, trains and buses.

A French Muslim woman has been fined for wearing a full-face veil while driving a car.

Police in the western city of Nantes said the veil - which showed only her eyes - restricted her vision and could have caused an accident.

After stopping the woman police asked her to raise her veil to confirm her identity, which she did. They then fined her 22 euros ($29; £19), saying her clothing posed a safety risk.

This fine is not justified on road safety grounds and constitutes a breach of human and women's rights, her lawyer, Jean-Michel Pollono, told AFP news agency. He said the woman's field of vision was not obstructed and added that a veil was no different from a motorcycle helmet in terms of hindrance to vision. He said he had formally complained to the state prosecutor.

A French conservative politician at the forefront of a campaign for a full ban on veils has been placed under police protection after reportedly receiving islamic death threats.

Jean-Francois Copé, who leads the parliamentary group of President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party, has had a security officer accompanying him since January, it emerged.

Copé submitted a proposed bill on banning the veil in public in January, on grounds of security and women's equality. On Wednesday, the government announced its intention to push through a full ban as early as this summer.

Shadi Ghadirian has unveiled a series of compelling images portraying Iranian women wearing the traditional chador, a full-length veil permitted under Iran's hijab laws. But the women's faces are obscured by common household objects.

Irons, dish-washing gloves, pots, pans and other items associated with domestic chores replace women's faces in the portrait series, titled Like Every Day.

Marriage showed me how a large segment of women in our society are bound by these objects, Ghadirian told the Daily Telegraph. I wanted to know how Iranian women go through life with these items, and how things are different for women from other countries. I believe these are important questions.

Ghadirian has complained of her country's strict religious laws and government censorship which go so far as to bar her from photographing women's hair: I have had many photographs which show women as second-class citizens or depict the censorship of women. I wish to continue speaking of women because I still have a lot to say.

Belgium's lower house of parliament has voted for a law that would ban women from wearing the full Islamic face veil in public.

The vote was almost unanimous with 134 MPs in support of the law and two abstentions.

The law would ban any clothing that obscures the identity of the wearer in all buildings or grounds that are meant for public use or to provide services, including streets, parks and sports grounds. Exceptions could be made for certain festivals.

Those who break the law could face a fine of 15-25 euros (£13-£27) or a seven-day jail sentence.

The BBC's Dominic Hughes in Brussels says MPs backed the legislation on the grounds of security, to allow police to identify people. Other MPs said that the full face veil was a symbol of the oppression of women, our correspondent says.

The law now goes to the Senate, where it may face challenges over its wording. It is expected to pass through the Senate without being blocked though, with initial reports saying it could come into law as early as June or July.

The Muslim Executive of Belgium has criticised the move, saying it would lead to women who do wear the full veil to be trapped in their homes.

Amnesty International said a ban would set a dangerous precedent. In a statement, the human rights group said it would violate the rights to freedom of expression and religion of those women who wear the burqa or niqab as an expression of their identity and beliefs.

Men could be fined £13,000 and jailed for a year for forcing their wives to wear a burka under proposed laws in France, leaked documents reveal.

Ministers hope to vote on a total ban on anyone hiding their face in public in July, it is claimed.

The French law would create a new offence of incitement to cover the face for reasons of gender, the newspaper Le Figaro reported.

According to the paper, the legislation would state: No-one may wear in public places clothes that are aimed at hiding the face.

While men will incur steep fines and prison sentences for forcing their wives to hide their face, women would receive a much smaller fine of around £130 because they are often victims who are not given any choice, one of the proposed law's authors said. Women would not be unveiled in the street but instead taken to a police station to be formally identified, the draft legislation states.

The law would also apply to Muslim tourists - including the thousands of wealthy Middle Eastern visitors to Paris every year.

After Belgium's parliament voted to ban Islamic full-face veils, the German vice-president of the European Parliament has called for a ban of the burka throughout Europe.

Silvana Koch-Mehrin called the full-body veil an attack on the rights of women in a guest editorial in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. I would like to see all forms of the burka banned in Germany and in all of Europe, wrote the politician, a member of Germany's pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP).

She called the burka a mobile prison, saying that those who veil women take away their faces and therefore their personalities. The complete veiling of women is a blatant acknowledgement of values that we here in Europe do not share, she wrote.

A Tunisian-born woman has been fined in Italy for wearing a burqa, the first time such a penalty has been imposed in the country.

Amel Marmouri was stopped by carabinieri officers in a spot check outside a post office in Novara in northern Italy and given a 500 euro (£431) fine, payable within 90 days. She at first declined to lift her veil to be identified because the officers were male, but agreed when a municipal police patrol which included a woman officer was summoned.

The fine was imposed under a city ordinance introduced in January in Novara banning any clothing which prevents the immediate identification of the wearer inside public buildings, schools and hospitals. It marked the first time the regulation had been enforced.

Massimo Giordano, the Mayor of Novara, said the regulation was based on a 1975 national anti terrorist law making it illegal for men or women to be in public place with their faces covered.

Ben Salah Braim, the woman's husband and a building worker, said he would respect the regulation, but would have to confine his wife at home since the Koran forbade other men to see her face.

Isabella Bossi Fedrigotti, a novelist and social commentator, said any husband who forced his wife to stay at home would pay the price by having to take the children to school or the doctor, do the shopping, pay the bills and go to the bank or post office.

A Swiss canton has passed legislation preparing the groundwork for a possible ban on the Islamic burqa.

The local council in Aargau, a canton (state) voted overwhelmingly to work on a state initiative to make wearing the burqa in public places illegal. Most major parties backed the move.

Pushing the motion forward, the centrist and right wing parties in favour said the garment was a symbol of male dominance over women, according to the Swiss news agency SDA. The parties also said the full body veil prevents the integration of migrants into Swiss society.

Bans on the burqa are being mulled in other Swiss cantons, including Bern.

The French parliament has voted to condemn the full Islamic face veil, calling it an affront to the nation's values of dignity and equality.

The non-binding resolution was passed unanimously, although 30 communist deputies walked out in protest.

Legislation to ban the full-face veil in public is expected later this year.

President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered parliament to debate a ban last month. He has described veils that conceal the face as oppressive to women and not welcome in France.

Australian shadow parliamentary secretary, Cory Bernardi, has called for Islamic women to be banned from wearing the burqa.

Writing on his blog, he argued his case on law and order grounds and the basis of respect for women. The burqa is no longer simply the symbol of female repression and Islamic culture, it is now emerging as a disguise of bandits and n'er do wells, he wrote. He was responding to a police report describing a hold-up in Sydney by a suspect in a burqa and sunglasses and said the garb could be used as a disguise.

Perhaps some of you will consider that burqa wearing should be a matter of personal choice, consistent with the freedoms our forefathers fought for. I disagree, the senator wrote: New arrivals to this country should not come here to re-create the living environment they have just left. They should come here for a better life based on the freedoms and values that have built our great nation.

Both PM Kevin Rudd and Liberal leader Tony Abbott dismissed the comments and said they would not support a ban.

Update: Nutter Niles

16th May 2010. Based on article from islamophobia-watch.com

The Reverend Fred Nile will introduce a Bill to parliament calling for a ban on the Islamic burqa head and body veil.

The Christian Democrats MP wants NSW to follow France and other European countries, which have moved to ban women from wearing the full head and body covering in public. The private member's Bill will likely be introduced very soon.

Niles said: We should establish that in Australia we are an open society, that people don't cover up their faces. If they are involved in criminal activity they do. They do it with the burqa, it is not part of our culture and tradition.

Nile's private member's Bill will almost certainly not succeed because he lacks the required numbers.

France's top legal advisory body has once again raised questions over the legal viability of an imminent bill to ban full Muslim veils in public.

The Council of State, which advises on the preparation of new laws and orders, earlier this year said introducing such a ban would threaten rights guaranteed under both the constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Paris daily Le Figaro reported that the advisory body had again come to the same conclusion after a meeting with government officials: A comprehensive and absolute ban on wearing the full veil could not have any legally unchallengeable justification and (it would) be exposed to great constitutional uncertainty.

The head of the UMP parliamentary group Jean-Francois Cope, who is fighting for the broadest possible ban, said that the panel's conclusions were not a surprise, but that other legal experts had opposing views. I, like many, have a difference of opinion with the Council of State, Cope told a news conference. It's an interpretation. But today there are comprehensive and absolute bans existing such as you can't wander around naked in the road.

The French cabinet have approved a draft law to ban garments designed to hide the face in the country.

The bill will now go before parliament in July. President Nicolas Sarkozy told assembled ministers: In this matter the government is taking a path it knows to be difficult, but a path it knows to be just, according to his office. He said France was an old nation united around a certain idea of personal dignity, particularly women's dignity, and of life together. It's the fruit of centuries of efforts.

As the issue grows ever more contentious it has led to isolated incidents of violence in the country.

The police intervened after the debate, held at an elementary school in Montreuil in the eastern suburbs of Paris, organised by the feminist movement Ni Putes Ni Soumises (neither whores nor submissives) and attended by more than 100 people, was disrupted by members of the pro-Palestinian group Sheikh Yassin. Blows were exchanged before the police arrived and blocked the exits to the school, and asked the victims to identify their attackers.

On Saturday, France experienced its first official case of burka rage when a 60-year-old female lawyer is alleged to have tried to pull a Muslim woman's veil from her face.

The Spanish town of Lerida has become the first in the country to ban the Burka in municipal buildings.

The town council voted to prohibit the use of the veil and other clothes and accessories which cover the face and prevent identification in buildings and installations of the town hall.

The vote, by 23 to one with two abstentions, is the first of its kind in Spain.

The move is aimed at promoting respect for the dignity of women and values of equality and tolerance, the town hall said in a statement.

Update: Covered Band Wagon

3rd June 2010. See article from islamophobia-watch.com

The full council of El Vendrell (Tarragona), in line with the motion adopted in Lleida, will examine in the second week of June a proposal from CiU, to prohibit the use of the burqa and niqab in public facilities in the municipality.

The Spanish Minister of Justice, Francisco Caamano, has said the country's future law on religious freedom will limit the wearing of the burka in public spaces.

The garment covers the wearer's entire head, shoulders and face, and doesn't contain a slit of eyes as in the case of the similar garment niqab.

Caamano's announcement came just one day after Barcelona became the third Spanish city to announce that the wearing of both garments would be forbidden in public buildings for security reasons.

Tarragona became the fourth city in Spain to adopt the same measure on the same day.

The minister insisted the law would have to be approved by the Spanish parliament, but said the decision on a national level would take into account more than just security factors: It is difficult to make elements such as the burka compatible with the dignity of human beings and with fundamental elements in public spaces, such as identification.

The radical party in Geneva (FDP) want to ban the residents of the canton from wearing any religious clothing. The ban will not affect tourists.

An 1875 law, still in effect, bans the wearing of ecclesiastical clothing in the public space. According to a press statement by the FDP, deputy Jean Romain proposes to update and replace the ban on ecclesiastical dress by one on religious clothing.

The new bill does not specifically ban the burqa, but it is included in it. Jean Romain says that he doesn't see why priests are forbidden to wear their church clothes in Geneva and not Raëlians or ayatollahs.

Australian Christian Democratic Party MP Fred Nile has succeeded in introducing a bill to ban the wearing of the burqa in the NSW Upper House.

Nile introduced his private member's bill, seeking to ban the wearing of the burqa and other face veils in public.

Last month, a debate on the same bill was voted down by the NSW Upper House.

The bill has been adjourned until September 2010.

MPs from 47 countries have unanimously voted against a general ban on the wearing of the burka in public.

The Parliamentary Assembly of Europe's human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, passed a resolution warning that if governments imposed such a ban they would be denying women who genuinely and freely desire to do so their right to cover their faces.

The resolution was part of a report on Islam, Islamism and Islamophobia, which also called on European governments to work to educate Muslim women, their families and communities on their human rights and to encourage them to take part in public and professional life.

But Spain Disagrees

Based on article from islamophobia-watch.com

The Spanish Senate has approved a motion urging Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government to ban Islamic all-body veils in public places.

The government needed to take legal measures against the niqab, which covers the entire body except for the eyes, and against the burqa, which hides even the eyes, the motion said.

It was approved with the narrow majority of 131 votes against 129.

Spain should outlaw any usage, custom or discriminatory practice that limits the freedom of women, said the document, which was drafted by the main conservative opposition People's Party (PP).

Eight Spanish municipalities, located mainly in the north-eastern region of Catalonia, have outlawed or are planning to outlaw all-body veils in public places. The Senate is now seeking a nationwide ban.

As Does France

Based on article from islamophobia-watch.com

French lawmakers will begin on July 6 to debate a government proposal to ban the Muslim full-face veil from public spaces, a minister said.

The lower house National Assembly will read the bill before it passes to the Senate in September and it could be adopted into law soon after.

As Do Some in the UK

Based on article from islamophobia-watch.com

A Kettering MP who has led calls to ban Muslim women from wearing the burka in Britain is to ask Parliament to restrict its use.

Philip Hollobone, Conservative MP for Kettering, will present his Private Members Face Coverings (Regulation) Bill in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Hollobone, who previously likened wearing the garment to going around with a paper bag over your head, said: The ruling clearly demonstrates that members of the council of the EU are out of touch with popular opinion.

What they said does leave open the possibility of restrictions on the wearing of burkas for security and other reasons – it doesn't forbid any measure. If motorcyclists have to take their helmet off when they go into shops and banks the same rules should apply to people wearing the burka.

A small town in southern Spain became the latest municipality in the country to ban the use of the face-covering Islamic veil in public buildings.

The municipal council in Coin, a town of some 21,000 near Malaga, approved the measure by a large majority.

The ban will be imposed in all public buildings, including schools and sports centres, but not in the rest of the town.

Update: Catalonian Burkha Ban Rejected

6th July 2010. Based on article from islamophobia-watch.com

Catalonia's parliament has rejected a move to ban the wearing of the Islamic burqa in public places across the Spanish region after reversing an initial vote.

A resolution moved by conservatives and centre-right nationalists was passed, but opponents said there had been a technical error and some absentees at the moment of the vote.

After the session was suspended, the parliamentary speaker ordered the vote to be put again, prompting a walk-out by the motion's supporters and a victory for its left-wing opponents.

A proposed law against the wearing of the full Islamic veil in French public spaces is to be sent to France's Constitutional Council after being voted on by the Parliament. That was the surprise announcement by Jean-Francois Cope, head of the ruling UMP party in parliament, during a debate on the text by the French National Assembly.

The Constitutional Council of France is charged with examining the compatibility of laws with the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution. But there's a strong chance that they will reject a general ban on the Muslim veil, making it a risky bet for the majority party.

France's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a ban on wearing burqa-style Islamic veils.

Proponents of the law say face-covering veils don't square with the French ideal of women's equality or its secular tradition. The bill is controversial abroad but popular in France.

The ban on burqas and niqabs will go in September to the Senate, where it also is likely to pass. Its biggest hurdle will likely come after that, when France's constitutional watchdog scrutinizes it. Some legal scholars say there is a chance it could be deemed unconstitutional.

In Tuesday's vote at the National Assembly, there were 335 votes for the bill and just one against it. Most members of the main opposition group, the Socialist Party, walked out and refused to vote, though they in fact support a ban. They simply have differences over where it should be enforced, underscoring the lack of controversy among French politicians on the issue.

The bill passed Tuesday bans face-covering veils everywhere that can be considered public space, even in the street, but the Socialists only want it in certain places, such as government buildings, hospitals and public transport.

The legislation would forbid face-covering Muslim veils in all public places in France and calls for euro150 ($185) fines or citizenship classes, or both. The bill also is aimed at husbands and fathers — anyone convicted of forcing someone else to wear the garb risks a year of prison and a euro30,000 ($38,000) fine, with both penalties doubled if the victim is a minor.

Officials have taken pains to craft language that does not single out Muslims. While the proposed legislation is colloquially referred to as the anti-burqa law, it is officially called the bill to forbid concealing one's face in public.

It refers neither to Islam nor to veils. Officials insist the law against face-covering is not discriminatory because it would apply to everyone, not just Muslims. Yet they cite a host of exceptions, including motorcycle helmets, or masks for health reasons, fencing, skiing or carnivals.

Banning the wearing of the Islamic full veil in public would be un-British, the UK immigration minister has said.

Damian Green told the Sunday Telegraph trying to pass such a law would be at odds with the UK's tolerant and mutually respectful society.

It comes after Tory MP Philip Hollobone introduced a private members' bill which would make it illegal for people to cover their faces in public.

Green said that the French ban was very unlikely to be copied in the UK: Telling people what they can and can't wear, if they're just walking down the street, is a rather un-British thing to do. We're a tolerant and mutually respectful society.

Green said that, unlike France, the UK was not aggressively secular.

Spain's Parliament has rejected a proposal to ban women from wearing in public places Islamic veils that reveal only the eyes.

However, the Socialist government has said it favors including a ban on people wearing burqas in government buildings in an upcoming bill on religious issues to be debated after parliament's summer vacation break.

Following a lower chamber debate, 183 lawmakers opposed the ban, 162 voted for it and two abstained.

Two Muslim women have claimed they were refused a bus ride because one had her face covered by a veil.

The students were in London and boarded a Metroline bus from Russell Square to Paddington. But they said when they presented their tickets the driver told them they were a threat to passengers and ordered them off the bus.

An investigation has been started by the firm as a matter of urgency.

Yasmin, who was wearing a hijab, and Atoofa, dressed in a niqab - which covers the face - were in London to hand in university work

Yasmin said at first she boarded the bus by mistake when it was not in service to ask if it was going to Paddington station, but was told by the driver to get off: About 10 minutes later... the passengers started getting on. When I went forward to show my ticket he said, 'Get off the bus'. I presumed he was still angry because I got on the bus before.

He said, 'I am not going to take you on the bus because you two are a threat.' I realised it wasn't due to me getting on the bus, this may be a racist attack.

The women complained to another bus driver who offered advice on where to complain.

A spokesman for bus operator Metroline said: We take this very seriously and will make a thorough investigation into the allegations as a matter of urgency. However, Metroline can unequivocally state that such views would not be representative of the company in any way and that we are committed to respecting equality and diversity for all.