December 22, 2003	Monday	Shawwal 27, 1424

PARIS, Dec 21: An estimated 3,000 women and men demonstrated in Paris on Sunday against French President Jacques Chirac’s controversial pledge to back a government ban on the Islamic headscarf in state schools.

The crowd was divided in numbers more or less equally between men and women, with most women demonstratively wearing headscarves.

France has a Muslim population of some five million or about eight percent of the overall population.

The rally was organised following an appeal by two girl high school pupils from the Paris region aged 17 and 19, who stressed that no political group had been involved in preparing the demonstration.

Around 100 women wearing headscarves travelled to attend the rally from Lille and Tourcoing in the north of France aboard two special buses.

More than 600 people also demonstrated on Saturday against the proposed legislation in the eastern city of Strasbourg, while several dozen protested in southeastern Avignon.

After months of heated debate, a committee of experts earlier this month recommended banning “conspicuous” religious insignia — including the Muslim headscarf, the Jewish kippa and large crucifixes — from state schools, which are in principle strictly secular.—AFP