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France Big Challenge: The Muslim  Headscarf Ban

France’s bold new effort to rein in Muslim fundamentalism was put to the test today, with a new law that bans Islamic headscarves taking force as students went back to school. But the stakes have been raised by a hostage crisis countries away as Islamic radicals in Iraq continue to hold two French journalists hostage, demanding that the law be scrapped or the two will be killed. Mohammed Bechari, a vice president of the French Council for the Muslim Faith, said the return to class would be difficult and urged calm. “The hostage-takers are just waiting for a provocation,” Bechari told Le Figaro newspaper before departing for Iraq with a delegation of French Muslim leaders to help in the hostage crisis. “We must be responsible.” The law has been among the most divisive issues in recent times in France, and it is not yet clear whether Muslim girls who cover their heads will defy it or compromise their beliefs to stay in school. The law forbids conspicuous religious signs or apparel in public schools, including Jewish skull caps and large Christian crosses. However, it is aimed at Islamic headscarves and meant to counter a rise in Muslim fundamentalism reportedly taking root in schools. As classes opened, one Muslim girl in the working-class Paris suburb of Aubervilliers said she was leaving her headscarf at home. “I was always treated badly and I felt uncomfortable, so I decided to take it off,” said Nadia Aradi, 16, before heading through the school gates. Several Muslim organisations have set up hot lines to advise or council young girls in a quandary over the law. Sofia Rahem said her association, GFaim2Savoir, “I’m Hungry for Knowledge,” had received “an enormous number” of calls. “They are young girls in distress who don’t know what to do with their future,” said Rahem, a 23-year-old university student who wears a headscarf. “They fear the return to school knowing they won’t be accept with a scarf.” The law, passed in March, has raised arguments over religious freedom, free expression and France’s much cherished principle, secularism, seen by authorities as under threat by increasingly militant Muslims. France’s Muslim population is an estimated five million, the largest in Western Europe. Today, there were no immediate reports of dramatic scenes of rejection at school gates. The law specifies that no one will be immediately excluded from school. It calls for a period of dialogue, though Francois Fillon, the education minister, has stressed that there is no room for negotiations. “There is no question today of excluding. It is a question of convincing,” he said. Experts predict a rash of court cases brought by Muslims who test the law by wearing “discreet” head coverings like bandannas. The law allows for discreet religious signs.

 

US seeks quick UN vote to press Syria on Lebanon

UNITED NATIONS - The United States called for a Thursday vote on a resolution telling Syria to stop interfering in Lebanon’s presidential election despite strong opposition to the measure in the U.N. Security Council. During a closed-door meeting late on Wednesday, just six of the council’s 15 members—France, Britain, Germany, Spain and Romania as well as the United States—backed the US-drafted resolution while most of the others either raised questions or expressed opposition, diplomats said. Nine “yes” votes are required for council approval. The resolution aims to head off a move in Lebanon’s parliament to amend the constitution and extend the term of its Syrian-backed president, Emile Lahoud, for three more years. The 128-member assembly has set a vote on the constitutional change for Friday  and officials said the amendment would easily win the required two-thirds majority. “We intend to seek a vote tomorrow because the situation is that in Lebanon they have a very fast process for amending the constitution,” that in Lebanon they have a very fast process for amending the constitution,” US Ambassador John Danforth told reporters. “The government of Syria has put the hammer on Lebanon, basically instructing Lebanon to bend the constitution—not to change the election process, but to abort the election process,” he said. The resolution would call for the “strict respect of Lebanon’s sovereignty” and demand the rapid withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon and a disbanding of all militias. It would declare the council’s support for “a free and fair electoral process in Lebanon’s upcoming presidential election conducted according to Lebanese constitutional rules devised without foreign interference or influence.” During the closed-door council meeting, Algeria, Pakistan and the Philippines expressed strong opposition to the draft resolution, saying Washington was seeking to interfere in Lebanon’s internal affairs. They also accused the United States of exercising a double standard in seeking to force a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanese soil while allowing Israel to continue to occupy Palestinian lands captured in a 1967 war. Council members China, Brazil and Chile also raised questions about the measure’s impact on Lebanese sovereignty, diplomats said. “It is up to the Lebanese people and their representatives to decide on matters related to their own situation,” Syrian Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad told reporters after the meeting. ”Syria believes there was no justification whatsoever for the Security Council to discuss such an issue.” Mekdad  said he regretted that France had agreed to co-sponsor the resolution, saying Paris had failed to respect the spirit of its friendship with Damascus and with other Arab governments “on Muslim issues.” Danforth acknowledged the measure would not be binding on the Beirut government, but said it was important for the council to “do the best we can.” “Let’s at least condemn something as being just plain wrong,” he said.   

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