THE TELEGRAPH: A French conservative politician at the forefront of a campaign for a full ban on Islamic veils has been placed under police protection after reportedly receiving death threats.
Jean-François Copé, who leads the parliamentary group of President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party, has had a security officer accompanying him since January, it emerged on Friday.
Mr Copé submitted a proposed bill on banning the veil in public in January, on grounds of security and women's equality. On Wednesday, the government announced its intention to push through a full ban as early as this summer.
Mr Sarkozy, who has said that full veils oppress women, chose to defy France's highest administrative body, which says a full ban could be declared unconstitutional.
In a sign the French are already clamping down on the wearing of the garment, it emerged on Friday that a woman driver wearing an Islamic face veil had been fined 22 euros (£20) by French police for not having a clear field of vision.
Traffic police in the western city of Nantes fined the 31-year-old woman in early April. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Friday, April 23, 2010
