France – terrorism

Al Qaeda threatens to attack France over Burka ban

Article published on the 2009-06-30 Latest update 2009-07-02 12:57 TU

A woman wears a Burka in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley.
(Photo: Manu Pochez /RFI)

The leader of the branch of al Qaeda in North Africa Tuesday threatened attacks in France in response to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to ban the Burka. His comments were posted on a jihadist website and reported by the American research centre SITE.

“Before it was the hijab, and now it’s the niqab,” said the group’s chief Abou Moussab Abdoul Wadoud. “We will avenge France and its interests with all the means we have for the honour of our daughters and sisters…. We, the mujahideen, will not stay silent faced with these provocations and injustices. We call on all Muslims to face this hostility with a greater hostility and to struggle against these attempts on the part of France to mislead loyal men and women from their faith … by adhering to the teachings of Sharia law.”

Sarkozy said that the burka is not welcome in France during an address before parliament on 22 June. He said that the full covering of women “is not a religious symbol but a sign of servitude, of subservience” of women. A parliamentary committee has been formed to investigate the used of the burqa in France for the next six months.

France is the only country in Europe to have banned the headscarf, or hijab, in schools, following a contentious debate in 2004.