French president seeks ban on full veils

PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy of France told his Cabinet on Wednesday that he would put forward a bill in May to ban the wearing of the full veil in public places in France, despite a warning from senior legal authorities that the bill may be unconstitutional.

Sarkozy wants a bill that goes further than initial proposals, including a ban on wearing the full veil — the niqab, which leaves only the eyes uncovered, and the burqa — from streets, markets and shops, according to his spokesman, Luc Chatel.

The full veil "hurts the dignity of women and is unacceptable in French society," Chatel quoted Sarkozy as telling the Cabinet. The idea of a ban is popular with many in France and with his own political party, while Sarkozy's own standing in the polls has rarely been lower.

An earlier proposal from a panel of the National Assembly suggested a bill banning the full veil in public places belonging to the state, such as schools and public buildings, and in areas where facial recognition is vital for security reasons: airports, banks and public transport.

Sarkozy's push for broader restrictions was seen as a challenge to the Council of State, France's top administrative authority, which warned in March that "a general and absolute ban on the full veil as such can have no incontestable judicial basis" and that it could be thrown out by the courts.

The council said it would be clearer legally to simply issue an order that women would have to uncover their faces for identity checks as required. A law had to be based on the protection of public order, the council said, not on personal dignity.

Fewer than 2,000 women in France wear a full veil, and many are French women who converted to Islam. The full veil is viewed in France as a sign of a more fundamentalist Islam, known as Salafism, which the government is trying to undercut.

In 2004, France banned the wearing of headscarves in public schools while banning all signs of religious affiliation, so the law did not legally single out Muslims, as a ban on the full veil would seem to do.

Belgium is also preparing to vote on legislation to ban the full veil.