Sarkozy Calls For Debate On Islam

Following last year’s controversial ban on the full Islamic veil in public places, French President Nicolas Sarkozy now wants to formalise the relationship between Islam and France's fiercely secular state.
Last week Sarkozy joined British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in announcing multiculturalism is not working and setting out to formalize the relationship between Islam and the fiercely secular state of France.
The role of Islam in France is going to be a central issue in the 2012 presidential campaign.
Secularism in France, a country with Catholic roots but a deep-rooted suspicion of religion, has been enforced by law for over a century. The Republic does not officially recognize, pay salaries for, nor subsidize any religion.
It is henceforth forbidden to erect or display any religious signs or emblems publicly, and political meetings may not take place in places of worship.
The law does not address prayer meetings in the city streets (some mosques in France have overcrowding issues, thus leading to an overspill into the streets), which is a particular bugbear of the National Front.

Link : http://www.france24.com/en/20110218-france-paris-sarkozy-elysee-islam-secular-religion