Need to get our priorities straight' says head of French Muslim council after burkini row

GETTYFrance has been ordered to get its 'priorities straight'

FRANCE has been ordered to get its "priorities straight" following the suspension of the burkini ban.


Anouar Kbibech, the President of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, called the State Council’s decision to suspend the short-term burkini decree "fair" and said it helped protect a person’s "fundamental freedoms".

The French State Council – the country’s highest court – announced its decision to suspend the burkini ban imposed by the mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet, a seaside resort on the French Riviera, on Friday.

Mr Kbibech, said that despite facing huge pressure – from politicians and from the press – the court had issued a “fair” ruling that helps guarantee the “protection of one’s fundamental freedoms".

He said: “Everyone is relieved. Many French Muslims have felt stigmatised, even humiliated, after what happened to several beach-going Muslim women in Nice and Cannes.”

Mr Kbibech was referring to the burkini-clad Muslim women who were fined by the police for wearing the full-body Islamic swimsuit to the beach last week.

The State Council’s decision is reassuring he claimed, and has helped restore the Muslim population’s faith in the French Republic.

The only thing that came out of the whole burkini debacle a winner, he said, was “the rule of law".

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GETTYThe French State Council announced its decision to suspend the burkini ban on Friday

Many French Muslims have felt stigmatised, even humiliated

Anouar Kbibech

According to Mr Kbibech, the steps taken by the two pro-Muslim organisations to get France’s highest court to suspend the burkini ban were both “sound and legitimate".

He said: “We hope that the State Council’s ruling will put an end to the controversial hysteria surrounding the burkini debate.

"It is time for everyone to come back to their senses and for people to work together to help maintain national unity.

"We need to get our priorities straight: a terrorist killed people in Nice, not the burkini.”

GETTYAnouar Kbibech called the State Council’s decision 'fair'

GETTYThe burkini ban imposed by the mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet was suspend

Mr Kbibech also said that the French had shown great “maturity” in the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks, and had not sought to find “scapegoats” on whom to put the blame.

Muslims in France have always respected the laws and the values of the Republic, he added.

Mr Kbibech said: “Muslims living in France want to practice their faith in peace, to avoid any provocation, and for people to stop stigmatising them.”