Sarkozy's party looks at 26 ways to update French religious laws

The UMP was considering 26 ideas that party officials say are aimed at bringing France's stringent laws decreeing the separation of church from state into step with the times.

With Europe's largest Muslim population - estimated at about five million - France is much changed from 1905, when the secularism laws were adopted, and they are in urgent need of revamping, the party argued.

The proposals discussed yesterday include banning the wearing of religious symbols such as Muslim headscarves or prominent Christian crosses by day-care personnel and preventing Muslim mothers from wearing headscarves when accompanying school field trips.

It also would prevent parents from taking their children out of mandatory subjects, including PE and biology.

The debate could lead to a legislative bill in the national assembly, where the UMP has a majority.

The round-table comes a week before a law banning garments that cover the face takes effect. Under the measure, women who wear face-shrouding Muslim veils risk a fine, special classes and a police record.

The discussion also comes as Mr Sarkozy's poll numbers continue to slide and as the far-right National Front enjoys a resurgence under its new leader, Marine Le Pen, daughter of previous leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Critics from the opposition Socialist party have said the debate is an electoral ploy aimed at appealing to voters who could be swayed by the National Front.

UMP leader Jean-Francois Cope insisted that France needs clearer rules about how Muslims should adapt their religious practices to French society. "The practice of Islam in France is not the burqa. It is not prayers in the street," he said. In some neighbourhoods with large Muslim immigrant communities, the lack of mosques or prayer rooms means crowds gather on pavements and cobblestone streets at prayer times.

On the eve of the meeting, interior minister Claude Gueant tried to make a case for the need for meeting - but appears to have further angered many.

"This growth in the number of (Muslims) and a certain number of behaviours cause problems," he said in remarks carried on French radio on Monday."There is no reason why the nation should accord to one particular religion more rights than religions that were formerly anchored in our country."

The Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples said yesterday that it would file a legal complaint, accusing Mr Gueant of "Islamophobic statements".

Mr Gueant's predecessor, Brice Hortefeux, was convicted of racism based on a complaint by the same anti-racism group over comments regarding a UMP member of North African descent.

In France, the interior minister is primarily in charge of police and public security but is also in charge of overseeing religious affairs.