France: Tens of thousands of Muslims in Europe, the Middle East and North America joined in protest marches against President Jacques Chirac's law on secularism at the weekend.
The law, to be debated in the National Assembly in coming weeks, will ban all conspicuous signs of religion in French schools, including crucifixes and skull-caps. But it is widely perceived as a law against the wearing of the Islamic headscarf.
Proponents of the law say it promotes the equality of women and protects the secular foundation of the Republic. Its opponents say it is a sign of intolerance and discrimination against Muslims, who comprise 10 per cent of France's population.
The negative reaction outside France is only one unforeseen consequence of the legislation. Protests were held, usually in front of French embassies or consulates, in Kuwait, Jordan, the Israeli-Occupied Territories, Lebanon, Turkey, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Britain, Ireland and the US on Saturday.
In France, some 40,000 Muslims marched in Paris, Lille, Marseilles, Mulhouse, Nantes, Bordeaux, Poitiers, Annecy, Saint-Etienne and Nice. On February 7th, opponents of the law plan to march to the National Assembly.
The Interior Minister, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy, appealed for calm. "Tensions must not be increased," Mr Sarkozy said. "We need dialogue. Demonstrations don't move things forward." The biggest turn-out, of up to 20,000, occurred in Paris, where only 3,000 people joined a similar march last month. The demonstration in the capital was organised by the small Party of French Muslims (PMF), which has a reputation for anti-Israeli rhetoric.
The PMF's leader, Mr Mohamed Latrèche, told marchers that Jews "have everything" while Muslims "have nothing". As he spoke, the crowd chanted 'Allahu Ahkbar' (God is great).
Mr Latrèche warned Mr Chirac that he was "playing with fire" and that French Muslims "will never accept a law that violates our dignity and liberty". The Paris march was led by men, who several times stopped reporters from speaking to the veiled and unveiled women who walked behind them. Some of the women wrapped themselves in French tricolours. The atmosphere was tense, but there was no violence.
The majority of protesters were teenage girls, the age group targeted by Mr Chirac's law. The banners they carried said: "Modesty, happiness, dignity!", "Not our brothers, not our husbands; WE chose to wear the veil!", and "Down with Mr Chirac's racist, Catholic law!"
The law has divided France's Muslim community between those who assert what they see as their rights and those who follow the government line. The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), created by Mr Sarkozy last year to represent French Muslims, advised against participating in the protests.
The CFCM is lead by Mr Dalil Boubakeur, the head of the Paris Mosque, who was appointed by the Algerian government and is a strong supporter of Mr Chirac. "We mustn't frighten the bourgeois two months before regional elections," Mr Boubakeur told Le Parisien. "It would be very dangerous, and it is the thing I fear most - that French public opinion doubts that the true Islam of France . . . is deeply respectful of secular, republican society."
In another sign of deteriorating relations between France's religious communities, a bomb destroyed the car of Mr Aissa Dermouche, a civil servant of Algerian origin who was last week appointed prefect of the Jura. No one was hurt in the explosion outside Mr Dermouche's house.
"The atmosphere is rotten," said Mr Slimane Zeghidour, the author of several books on Islam in France. "The concept of the clash of civilisations has permeated the debate. The assumption that 'their civilisation is incompatible with ours' underlies everything that is said about Islam."