French Cabinet approves burqa ban law

Paris: The French Cabinet approved a draft law to ban the Muslim full-face veil from public spaces on Wednesday, opening the way for the text to go before Parliament in July. “In this matter the government is taking a path it knows to be difficult, but a path it knows to be just,” President Nicolas Sarkozy told the Ministers, according to his office.

While Mr. Sarkozy's right-wing majority is expected to be able to push the law through Parliament, constitutional experts have warned that it could be thrown out by judges and might fall foul of European law. According to the text of the law, no-one in France will be allowed to wear a garment “designed to hide the face”. — AFP