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Raffarin concerned about fallout from headscarf embargo

With an overwhelming vote, France's Senate has assured that a law banning Islamic headscarves from public schools will be on the books for the new school year in September despite protests at home and abroad.

Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin expressed official concern for the first time Wednesday over possible negative fallout over the law, telling senators that France must "try to reassure" detractors who consider it discriminatory.

However, massive approval hours later by the Senate, which voted 276 to 20 in favor of the legislation, provides the legitimacy President Jacques Chirac sought.

The vote came three weeks after the National Assembly, the lower chamber, overwhelmingly approved the bill in a 494 to 36 vote following a marathon debate.

Only a formality remains -- the president's signing the measure into law within the next 15 days. Chirac has said a law is needed to protect the constitutionally guaranteed principle of secularism, and to stop the spread of Islamic fundamentalism in France.

The law forbids religious apparel and signs that "conspicuously show" a student's religious affiliation. Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses would also be banned. However, authorities have made clear that it is aimed at removing Islamic headscarves from classrooms.

French leaders hope the law will quell debate over headscarves that has divided France since 1989, when two young girls were expelled from their school in Creil, outside Paris, for wearing the head coverings. Scores more have since been expelled.

However, there are fears that the law could do more harm that good. France's Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches are among those who have expressed that view.

The headscarf ban in public schools has drawn outrage from Muslims in France and abroad.

In the latest protests, some 6,000 students in Cairo demonstrated Monday at the Islamic Al-Azhar University, where the headscarf is compulsory for women. A day earlier, more than 2,000 Muslims, mainly veiled women, protested in Amman, Jordan.

An audiotape with a voice attributed to the top lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahri, aired Feb. 24 on the Arabic TV station Al-Arabiya, said the French measure "is another example of the Crusader's malice, which Westerns have against Muslims."

"It is clear that on the international level the question is not always understood," Raffarin said.

The measure "could be perceived as sectarian," he added. "We must not consider this to be a minor situation."

Raffarin insisted, however, that the law was needed to ensure respect for secularism and contain the spread of Muslim fundamentalism.

"We wanted to send a strong and rapid signal," the prime minister said.

Mostly Roman Catholic France has an estimated 5 million Muslims -- the largest Muslim population in Western Europe. French leaders have said that fundamentalism is on the rise within the Muslim population.

The legislation stipulates that "in schools, junior high schools and high schools, signs and dress that conspicuously show the religious affiliation of students are forbidden." It does not apply to students in private schools.

Sanctions for refusing to remove offending apparel will range from a warning to temporary suspension to expulsion.

How the law will be applied remains unclear. Instructions are to be distributed to schools around the nation. However, no one is yet certain whether Muslim girls wishing to cover their hair will be allowed to wear smaller apparel like bandannas -- or whether Sikh boys will permitted to keep their turbans.
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