France passes burqa ban draft law

The French cabinet has ratified a draft legislation to ban full-face veil, known as the burqa or niqab, despite questions raised over the legality of the move.

The approval on Wednesday paved the way for the controversial ban 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," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the cabiner on Wednesday, AFP reported.

However, France's State Council has cast doubt over the legality of such a ban.

"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 council said , Le Figaro reported.

Should the burqa ban become law, no one in France will be permitted to wear anything designed to hide the face in public places like shops, cinemas, restaurants, and markets.

Those who fail to abide by the law will be fined USD 180 or assigned to classes "to learn the values of French citizenship."

The burqa ban has already drawn fire from rights activists, who deem it against Europe's convention of human rights with some opposition Socialists saying they will vote against the ban.

However, Sarkozy and his supporters are determined to press on with the ban.

"Wearing clothes intended to conceal the face, in particular the all-body veil, challenges the rules that form the republican pact," the cabinet declared in the official account of its meeting.

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