Militants seek attacks on France over full veil ban

A woman who identified herself as Nayet, wearing a burqa, is seen after her release from a police station in Paris April 11, 2011. France’s ban on full face veils, a first in Europe, went into force today, exposing anyone who wears the Muslim niqab or burqa in public to a fine and lessons in French citizenship.


France’s ban on the Muslim full face veil has triggered calls on militant online forums for armed retaliation against the country, a US-based terrorism monitoring service said today.

Some contributors to the messages seen on the password-protected, invitation-only militant chatrooms this week called on al Qaeda’s North Africa arm to “deter” France by staging armed attacks, the SITE service said.

The anonymous threats, presented by the sites as comments by individuals, carry none of the weight of published audio or video statements by Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda or similar established armed groups seeking to attack Western targets.

But Western security officials are concerned that sermons, discussions and videos published on online forums and social networking sites are increasingly used by militants to encourage sympathisers to attempt attacks.

Individuals radicalised online or via email have carried out a handful of attacks in United States and Britain since 2009.

“Sarkozy, leave our sisters alone or we will truly be obligated to act on our words,” wrote one participant with the online identity of “Jabeen of Abdullah Azzam”, writing on the Arabic-language Shumukh al-Islam forum, SITE reported.



“Declare a war against crusader France!” wrote “al-katebat al-khdra” (the green battalion) on Shumukh al-Islam. “France with such action brought destruction and woes on itself.”

France’s ban on full face veils, a first in Europe, went into force on Monday, making anyone wearing the Muslim niqab or burqa in public liable to a fine of €150 (RM656.62) and lessons in French citizenship.

The law has provoked a limited backlash in France where a strict separation of church and state is seen as central to maintaining a peaceful civil society. But it has been widely criticised by Muslims abroad as harming their religious freedom.

Unlike most of the ban’s Muslim critics, the online militants favour a violent response to the law.

Participant “Abuhamza” called on al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to attack France, which he said was positioning itself as a larger enemy of Islam than the United States.

Shumukh forum members posting in an April 12, 2011 discussion called on bin Laden to carry out attacks in France and proposed the creation of a fund to plan and execute attacks against France and French interests, SITE said.

Unlike Britain and Spain, France has never been attacked by al Qaeda at home, despite being a NATO member that took part in the invasion of Afghanistan and still having troops there.

In a statement in October 2010, bin Laden condemned the ban on full-face Islamic veils passed by French constitutional authorities earlier that month and said France deserved to be attack for “injustices” against Muslims. –

French ban on full veil goes into force

The full-face veil that France is banning , triggering a call for civil disobedience.

France’s ban on full-face veils, a first in Europe, went into force today, exposing anyone who wears the Muslim niqab or burqa in public to fines of €150 (RM653).

A Muslim property dealer, who is urging women to keep wearing the veil if they want to, has urged supporters to go to Notre Dame cathedral in central Paris for a silent prayer during the day, and is also offering to help people pay the fines.

The five million Muslim minority in France is the largest in Western Europe, but fewer than 2,000 women are believed actually to wear a full-face veil.

Many Muslim leaders have said they support neither the veil nor the law banning it.




The timing is all the more sensitive after France’s ruling political party, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP, called a debate on the place of Islam in France, a move that some say risked stigmatising a portion of the population.

Police received a guide last week to help implement the ban. It tells them not to remove veils by force. It also notes that the ban does not apply inside private cars but reminds policemen such cases can be dealt with under road safety rules.

Rachid Nekkaz, the man who called for the Notre Dame prayer, said in a webcast that he was putting a property worth about €2 million up for sale to help fund his campaign.

“I am calling on all free women who so wish, to wear the veil in the street and engage in civil disobedience,” he said.

French police arrested 59 people on Saturday who turned up for a banned protest over the veil ban, one of them on arrival in France from Britain, according to a police spokesman.

Dutch may introduce burqa ban as early as 2011

Photo of a woman wearing a niqab/burqa walking near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on June 24, 2009.

The Netherlands could ban the burqa, the full-body covering worn by some Muslim women, as soon as next year, Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders told Reuters in an interview yesterday.

Wilders’ populist Freedom Party is the third largest in parliament and provides crucial support to the minority ruling coalition in exchange for the government taking a tougher line on Islam and immigration from non-Western countries.

His party has grown in popularity largely because of his outspoken criticism of Islam, which he describes as “a violent ideology.”

“There are not too many people who are willing to fight for this cause. It’s a big responsibility. It’s not only a Dutch problem, it’s a problem of the West,” said Wilders.


He has been charged with inciting hatred against Muslims for comparing Islam to Nazism. The case is due to start over again following a request for new judges.




“We are not a single issue party but the fight against a fascist ideology Islam is for us of the utmost importance,” said Wilders, who argues his comments about Islam are protected by freedom of speech.

Wilders said immigration from Muslim countries “is very dangerous to the Netherlands. We believe our country is based on Christianity, on Judaism, on humanism, and we believe the more Islam we get, the more it will not only threaten our culture and our own identity but also our values and our freedom.”

The burqa ban, which his party agreed as part of a pact with the minority coalition, is due to come into force within four years and possibly as soon as next year or 2012, he said.

With no clear winner in the elections in June, Wilders emerged as a kingmaker and won considerable influence for his Freedom Party over government policy. He promised support for the minority Liberal-Christian Democrat coalition in return for a tougher line on Islam and immigration, especially from non-Western, or predominantly Muslim countries.

The rise of Wilders and his party reflects changes within Dutch society over the past decade, in particular growing concerns that years of an open immigration policy and generous benefits have failed to integrate some immigrants.

Those concerns were previously highlighted by Dutch politicians Pim Fortuyn and Somalia-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali, as well as by the film-maker Theo van Gogh, all of whom spoke out against Islam and attracted death threats.

Fortuyn was murdered by an animal rights activist, Van Gogh was killed by a Muslim extremist, and Wilders lives with round-the-clock security in a government safe house, sometimes using wigs or other disguises when he moves around.

Wilders has used his party’s new-found power to push for cuts in the international aid budget, and strongly opposed the presence of a Dutch contingent in Afghanistan — an issue which brought down the previous government earlier this year and led to the withdrawal of Dutch troops.

Wilders’ influence has also caused consternation in the United States, which according to cables released this week by WikiLeaks had been pushing the Netherlands to take an even more prominent international role.

The US cables described the “golden-pompadoured, maverick parliamentarian” — a reference to Wilders’ dyed-blond mane — as “a thorn in the coalition’s side, capitalising on the social stresses resulting from the failure to fully integrate almost a million Dutch Muslims.”

They also described him as “no friend of the US” because of his opposition to a Dutch military role in Afghanistan.

Wilders laughed off the description of his appearance but stressed he was a friend of the United States who admired many of US values, including freedom of speech.

In contrast, he opposed bailouts for the European Union’s heavily indebted periphery: “The Dutch taxpayer will have to pay for countries that messed up ... If you mess up, you have to be responsible for your own problems.”

Wilders has also taken aim at the monarchy, saying Queen Beatrix should be reduced to a ceremonial role. A single party rarely wins an absolute majority in Dutch general elections and the monarch plays an important role in forming a government.

“We are not against the royal house. We are not republicans, but we believe that in the 21st century it’s not appropriate that just because you have a certain bloodline you have a part in government,” said Wilders.

The Freedom Party leader criticised Queen Beatrix after she called for tolerance in her annual Christmas Day speech — a comment Wilders felt was directed at him and his par

Iranian women's rugby team take to the field wearing modesty-preserving headscarves and tracksuits

Arrival: The team enters the playing field for the 'Cortina' seven-a-side tournament

On the ball: Iran's Zohre Eyni, left, is challenged by Italy's Sara Pettinelli during the clash which Italy won

Come back here: Iran's Farzaneh Navab Rad, right, is challenged by Italy's Federica Carlet

If the rugby-playing women of Iran's national sevens team had cauliflower ears, no-one could tell.

Kitted out in tight-fitting headscarves and full tracksuits to protect their modesty, the players caused quite a stir when they played in Europe for the first time.

Taking to the field in a women's seven-a-side tournament in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, they were dealt a 10-0 by the host nation and then suffered a further 33-0 setback in a second game.







Safe hands: Iran's Nazanin Ammanyan, left, is challenged by Italy's Michela Este during the tournament

Representing Iran: Female coach Fatemeh Moolai, with arm raised, talks to her players during the women's rugby sevens tournament where the Iran team appeared in Europe for the first time

But the players, whose hands and faces were the only areas of skin on public view, bounced back, defeating local side Valsugana 10-3.

In all the matches the team played wearing the 'maghnaeh', a veil that fully covers the head, shoulders and neck, along with red tracksuit tops and bottoms.

A quarter of a century ago, in the early years of the 1979 Islamic revolution when competitive sports for women were strongly discouraged, it would have been unthinkable for Iranian women to play a sport as physical as rugby.

Iranian team coach Fatme Molai, who has been in the job for four years, said: 'Wearing a veil does not change our method of play - clothes are something you wear and don't influence what you know how to do.

'To be honest the federation are looking at other head covers which are perhaps more practical.

'This was our first tournament in Europe and although we didn't win as we did in Laos and Thailand I am very happy.'
Captain Zohre Eyni, 22, said: 'First I played football but I now play rugby as I really enjoy it but my family are not so sure it is the right thing for a woman.

'The whole team has learnt how to keep the veil in place so that it doesn't interfere with play and I think we have shown that even a physical game like rugby can be played in a veil.

'There are no risks playing in a veil, as I said what is important is that you arrange it safe and well, what you have to be careful with is losing your tracksuit bottoms in a tackle or scrum.'

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Alireza Iraj, Tehran women's rugby coach, said as a man he had to stick with one of Iran's Islamic rules which states that members of the opposite sex cannot touch each other unless they are married couples or immediate members of a family.
When advising the team on how to tackle, Iraj keeps a decent distance away from the women and then instructs one of the players to demonstrate how to grab an opponent rather than carrying out the move himself.

Women's rugby was first introduced to Iran 10 years ago, and has grown in popularity ever since.

Now SYRIA bans the burka and niqab in universities as backlash against Muslim veil grows

Banned: The niqab, left, which covers the face and head but leaves the eyes exposed, and the burka, right, which covers even the eyes with a mesh mask, have both been banned in Syrian universities

Syria has banned face-covering Islamic veils from the country’s universities.

The surprise move comes as similar moves in Europe – including controversial calls in Britain for a ban on burkas – have sparked cries of discrimination against Muslims.

The crackdown was ordered by the secular government in Damascus amid fears of increasing Islamic extremism among young Muslim students.

Syria is not a Muslim country. An official at the ministry says the ban affects public and private universities and aims to protect the country's secular identity.





Still accepted: The hijab, a scarf that covers the head but leaves the face exposed, is common in Syria

A general view of Damascus, the Syrian capital. The crackdown was ordered by the secular government in Damascus amid fears of increasing Islamic extremism among young Muslim students

Sunday’s ban includes women wearing niqabs, veils covering the head and mouth while leaving the eyes exposed, and the head-to-toe burkas, which also cover the eyes with a mesh mask.

It did not include the hijab, or headscarf, which many Syrian women wear.

As many as 1,200 women teachers wearing niqabs and burkas are also said to have been transferred out of Syrian schools and universities and reassigned to government offices where they would not come into contact with students.

While plans to introduce a burka ban in Britain have prompted a fierce debate, most Syrians reportedly welcomed the clampdown.

Many are said to be in favour of a wider ban on burkas and niqabs from all public places.

'Hijabs and niqabs have been a symbol of oppression and religious extremism over the past hundreds of years. They have been a tool used by fundamentalist men to repress women,' said Ahmed, a 32-year-old engineer.

One passer-by in an upscale Damascus suburb said the burka to him was like a ‘walking black ghost.’
Syria’s Minister of Higher Education Ghyath Barakat is said to have told his top officials: ‘We will not leave our daughters a prey for extremist thoughts.’
An aide added: ‘The minister has totally rejected this phenomena which contradicts with the academic values and traditional morals and ethics of the Syrian society.
‘Our students are our children and we will not abandon them to extremist ideas and practices.’

The authoritarian regime acted to stamp out a wave of fundamentalism fed by the invasion of Iraq and anger over violence in the Palestinian territories.

The pan-Arab Ba’ath party, which has been in power since 1963, crushed an extremist movement in the 1980s after it launched a string of deadly attacks across Syria.

In Britain, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman spoke out earlier this week to defend a woman’s right to wear burkas.

She insisted women were ‘empowered’ by the freedom to wear the veils.
Her remarks came after Immigration Minister Damian Green resisted Tory demands for a ban, saying it would be ‘rather un-British.’

But Tory MP Philip Hollobone, who has tabled a private member’s bill making it illegal for anyone to cover their faces in public, insisted: ‘We are not a Muslim country.

'Covering your face in public is strange and to many people both intimidating and offensive.’

Spain is to debate banning the burka this week, while the lower houses of parliament in France and Belgium have already approved a ban.

Holland is considering a similar move.

The niqab and the burka are not widespread in Syria, although they have become more common recently.

The secular, authoritarian government has recently tried to curry favour by rallying to the cry of moderate Islam at home.

But it remains wary of Islamic fundamentalism, which is a threat to its power - especially in education.

Last month, hundreds of primary school teachers who wear the niqab were moved to administrative jobs, local media reported.