WASHINGTON, Dec 18: The US State Department voiced misgivings on Thursday about French President Jacques Chirac’s plan to bar the wearing of Islamic headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses in state schools.

“President Chirac is concerned to maintain France’s principle of secularism and he wants that, as I think he said, not to be negotiable,” US ambassador John Hanford told reporters when asked about the issue. “Our hope is religious freedom would be a non-negotiable as well.”

“One Muslim leader said this is a secularism that excludes too much. We are very concerned that that not be the case,” the US envoy for international religious freedom added. “So we are going to watch this carefully and (it is) certainly an important concern.”

Mr Hanford spoke as he presented the State Department’s annual report on religious freedom, which, as usual, criticized allies like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, adversaries like North Korea and Iran and emerging partners like China for failing to respect such freedoms.

Despite protests from Muslims, Mr Chirac on Wednesday called on the French parliament to pass a law banning people from wearing Islamic headscarves and other religious symbols in state schools before the new school year begins in September.

Mr Hanford said: “A fundamental principle of religious freedom that we work for in many countries of the world, including on this very issue of headscarves, is that all persons should be able to practice their religion and their beliefs peacefully without government interference as long as they are doing so without provocation and intimidation of others in the society.”

“Where people are peacefully practising their faith, is it really necessary to be outlawing their manifestation of their own faith?” Mr Hanford asked. “That’s the sort of basis (upon) which we will be discussing this.” —Reuters