*This will cause problems…but ultimately, it is the best for the French people.*
PARIS – President Nicolas Sarkozy said the Muslim burqa would not be welcome in France, calling the full-body religious gown a sign of the “debasement” of women.
In the first presidential address to parliament in 136 years, Sarkozy faced critics who fear the burqa issue could stigmatize France’s Muslims and said he supported banning the garment from being worn in public.
“In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,” Sarkozy said to extended applause at the Chateau of Versailles, southwest of Paris.
“The burqa is not a religious sign, it’s a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement — I want to say it solemnly,” he said. “It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic.”
Dozens of legislators have called for creating a commission to study a possible ban in France, where there is a small but growing trend of wearing the full-body garment despite a 2004 law forbidding it from being worn in public schools.
France has Western Europe‘s largest Muslim population, an estimated 5 million people, and the 2004 law sparked fierce debate both at home and abroad.
Even the French government has been divided over the issue, with Immigration Minister Eric Besson saying a full ban would only “create tensions,” while junior minister for human rights Rama Yade said she was open to a ban if it was aimed at protecting women forced to wear the burqa.
The terms “burqa” and “niqab” often are used interchangeably in France. The former refers to a full-body covering worn largely in Afghanistan with only a mesh screen over the eyes, whereas the latter is a full-body veil, often in black, with slits for the eyes.
A leading French Muslim group, the French Council for the Muslim Religion, has warned against studying the burqa, saying it would “stigmatize” Muslims.
Sarkozy was due to host a state dinner Monday with Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani of Qatar, where women wear Islamic head coverings in public — whether while shopping or driving cars.
Heidi-Lore's Musings 
I think he’s not right to ban it. If he was really concerned about the female repression it represents then he’d try to tackle the root cause of the issue, not just skim it on the surface with a superficial measure.
Here’s what I’ve written about it:
http://shanecroucher.co.uk/2009/06/22/242/
Sarkozy the Zionist J-w, is saying the Muslim women can’t wear what they want… hmmm but does he care about the defenseless little J-wish babies that are mutilated in a psychogenetic ritual, one that must desensitize some important part of the brain?
Of course not… Sarkozy is a Zionist J-w, and total Isr-el-first slimebag, trying to create contention between the Muslims and the French.
If the example of the US and Canada is any indication, the Zionist J-ws are the ones that pushed for a ‘replacement population’.
Sarkozy doesn’t want any attention on that.