French mother, 32, set to become first woman to be jailed for wearing banned Islamic veil

Hind Ahmas, left, could be sentenced to two years in prison in France

A 32-year-old mother from France is set to become the first woman ever to be sent to prison for wearing an Islamic veil.

Hind Ahmas refuses to accept the legitimacy of a Paris court which has ordered her to spend 15 days learning her civic duties.

She was sentenced by magistrates in Meaux, a Paris suburb, yesterday - after being arrested wearing an outlawed veil outside the Elysee Palace in the French capital on April 11.

That was shortly after Nicolas Sarkozy's government introduced a ban on all forms of Islamic head coverings, including the niqab and the burka.

Ahmas was not allowed into the hearing at Meaux Criminal Court because she refused to remove her face covering.

But prosecutors made it clear to her lawyer, Gilles Devers, that Ahmas now faces two years in prison and a £27,000 fine.

'There is no possibility of me removing the veil,' Ahmas said.

'I'm not taking it off. The judge needs citizenship lessons, not me.'

Ahmas, who has already refused to pay a fine of around £100 for wearing a veil on another occasion, intends to take her case to the European Court of Human Rights.

She has launched a pressure group, Do Not Touch My Constitution, along with Kenza Drider, another veil wearer who wants to run for president in the Spring.

If Ahmas does become the first woman in the world to go to prison for wearing a veil, then it will be seen as a huge propaganda coup for Islamic-rights campaigners.

Mr Sarkozy said the ban on head coverings was not aimed at persecuting Muslims, but merely to make France a more tolerant, inclusive society.

When it was introduced, he said the ban was aimed at stopping criminals – from terrorists to shoplifters – disguising their faces from security staff and CCTV.

But the sight of a young mother being led away to the cells merely because she refuses to take off her veil will cause outrage around the world.

Mr Devers said the veil ban was 'unconstitutional', while senior police officers have told judges that it is unenforceable without persecuting women.

France became the first country in Europe to outlaw the veil, while similar legislation has since been passed in Belgium and Holland.

One has been mooted in Britain by a number of politicians, including Conservative backbenchers, but there are no immediate plans to introduce one.

News by Dailymail


Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com

Sarkozy addresses Netanyahu of "liar" to Obama in private

Sarkozy-Obama

AFP - Nicolas Sarkozy has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "liar" during a private conversation, November 3 at the G20 in Cannes, with Barack Obama, who answered duty "to deal with it every day," says Freeze website images. "I can not see, is a liar," he told the French president. "You're tired of it, but I have to deal with it every day!" Replied his American counterpart, depending on the site that specializes in media analysis, which reports their words without specifying whether there is a sound recording of these statements. Sarkozy-Obama Exchange, held in camera, should have remained confidential but reached the ears of journalists incidentally, as Stop on images.

The organization released to the media with a small lead boxes to the translation of the press conference Obama-Sarkozy, some journalists have quickly connected headphones or headsets cell phone, managing to capture some echoes of the private conversation depending on the site. Questioned by AFP, several journalists have confirmed this. "I am aware of the buzz. We must see what is the reality of the thing. I have no idea. I will not comment on that. We are on the buzz," responded the carrier word of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bernard Valero, asked during a press briefing, journalists and referring to the Presidency of the Republic for which it "confirm or deny" those words.

"All this makes us lose sight of the essential. All we want is to keep working to get things done because things are not moving" towards peace in the Middle East, said M . Valero, adding he had no knowledge of reactions so far. In Israel, Netanyahu's office was immediately refrained from any reaction, as well as the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The correspondent of the Israeli public radio in France, Gideon Kutz, who covered the summit in Cannes, for his part said that his colleagues who have heard about the private exchanged by MM. Sarkozy and Obama had agreed not to do is "by correction and not to embarrass the Press" at the Elysee.

Freeze frame still says, without citing specific statements that Barack Obama would be criticized for Nicolas Sarkozy in the interview for not having warned that France would vote in favor of the accession of Palestine to UNESCO, while the United States were strongly opposed.

Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com

RBDQGTAG24CK

Greece focuses the concerns of the G20

hu-jintao-nicolas-sarkozy-et-barack-obama

The Greek crisis and the possibility of an output of Athens in the euro area have dominated discussions at the first day of the summit of the G20 countries in Cannes. The day ended with a press conference by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He felt that the message Wednesday night by Germany and France to Greece on his proposed referendum had allowed a "consciousness" which, "if it is confirmed, would be welcomed by everyone." Parallel to statements by French President Angela Merkel has warned it expected Greece's actions rather than ad: "For us, it is actions that count." For her, the stability of the euro is indeed a higher priority as ensuring the maintenance of Greece in the euro area.

During the day, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou suggested that his plan to submit to referendum the bailout of the euro zone could be abandoned. After negotiations within the government, Mr. Papandreou would eventually agreed to démisionner, under pressure from his Finance Minister, subject to obtaining the confidence of Parliament on Friday. >> Read our lights: Greece Can get out of the euro area? U.S. President Barack Obama devoted part of his discussions with his counterparts in French and German, as a prelude to the opening of the summit, the crisis in the continent. "The most important aspect of our work over the next two days is to solve the financial crisis here in Europe," he said.

At its press conference, Nicolas Sarkozy also reiterated his confidence in the strength of the Italian economy, threatened with contagion. He said he "noted with interest" the new anti-crisis measures that the country has made on the sidelines of the G20, adding: "I would say my confidence in the Italian economy, which is one of the strongest economies in the world. C is the third largest economy in Europe, perhaps the seventh or eighth largest economy in the world. Italy is a truly remarkable tradition of entrepreneurs. " The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi came to the G20 without being able to validate the anti-crisis measures by the government, tried to reassure his country's ability to repay its debt.

According to a draft action plan for growth discussed at Cannes, Italy is committed to approaching a balanced budget in 2013 and rapidly reduce its debt ratio to GDP from 2012. At about 120%, the ratio of debt to GDP in Italy is the largest of the major European countries. "There are now discussions [G20] to erect a firewall around countries such as Italy and Spain", for his part, said an Indian official. >> Read our lights: debt crisis: how Italy got there? * Emerging markets and the question of changes in a draft final communique obtained by Reuters, indicates that the G20 is working on the establishment of an international monetary system (IMS), which would better reflect the weight of emerging economies.

The group also agreed on the need to adjust the basket of special drawing rights (SDR) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to better reflect the changing roles of currencies. This adjustment could be a step towards better integration of currencies, as the Chinese yuan. However, the draft statement says nothing greater flexibility of exchange rates requested by the United States but opposed by China.

The United States, and to a lesser extent Brazil, pushed for the adoption of a stronger vocabulary, equivalent to an implicit commitment of China to move faster to a flexibility of its currency, the yuan. Like last year in Seoul, China seems determined to resist pressure and to defend the management at their own pace in the exchange rate of the yuan. With the uncertainties that collect around the euro area and the desire of Europeans see China contribute to their emergency fund, the risk is that the issue of currency does not move. According to sources from emerging countries, the G20 should be satisfied with the words of the communiqué of the G20 Finance held last month in Paris.

At this summit, the G20 finance ministers had simply agreed to continue "their efforts to move towards systems of exchange rates determined more by the markets and achieve greater flexibility in exchange rates to reflect economic fundamentals ".

The G20 will accept in its final communiqué, a possible increase of IMF resources by the willing. "States that so request, to the fall of 2012, bilateral increase their participation in IMF resources," said a source close to the negotiations. The fund's resources have been increased by an agreement approved a year ago, through a permanent doubling of contributions of member states, the "quota". This Agreement shall enter into force as nominally one year, but we need a sufficient number of national parliaments ratify it. Meanwhile, member states have provided temporary resources to the IMF through the "New Arrangements to Borrow." It is intended to remove this temporary resources when the increase of their contribution will be permanently effective.

In addition, the final communiqué should mention a new SDR allocation, a kind of international reserve asset of the IMF. An SDR allocation is a distribution of the assets created for the occasion, the Member States of the IMF, which fuels their foreign exchange reserves. British Finance Minister, George Osborne, confirmed that the G20 was discussing an increase in IMF resources. "The international community agrees that tackling the global economic situation, and there is a debate that has begun but not completed, on how to increase IMF resources," he said. Moreover, the IMF is going to get the creation of new precautionary credit lines and cash. These are loans to help countries, particularly emerging to deal with shocks in a hurry without being subject to formal programs of the IMF, with the strict conditions they imply.

In addition, the final communiqué should mention a new SDR allocation, a kind of international reserve asset of the IMF. An SDR allocation is a distribution of the assets created for the occasion, the Member States of the IMF, which fuels their foreign exchange reserves. British Finance Minister, George Osborne, confirmed q * The tax on financial activities back in discussions G20 leaders should discuss the creation of a tax on financial activities. A subject on which the Europeans encountered the reluctance, if not the opposition of many of their partners in the G20. On this point, Nicolas Sarkozy praised the "understanding" of Barack Obama on this issue and reported a "joint analysis" on the need for a "contribution to the world of finance" to solving the financial crisis and international economic.

News by Lemonde

Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com