Feature: Canadian Muslims say ban burqua in public

A prominent Muslim group in Canada is asking the federal government to ban the wearing of the Muslim burqua in public as a debate rages in Europe over the traditional wear.

Italy's anti-immigration Northern League party is demanding legislation to prosecute women who cover their faces with burqas and veils.

The league, which is an ally of conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, dismisses the idea of religious bias, saying its motives are to protect national security.

It is seeking to amend amend a 1975 law which imposes hefty fines and up to two years in jail people covering their faces with anything that prevents police from identifying them.

The burqua covers a woman's whole body, including her face. Some courts have allowed the burqua on religious grounds.

Mario Scialoja, a retired Italian diplomat who sits on the board of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Italy, has warned against passing a law, saying it would stigmatise Muslims.

The draft legislation is also hotly opposed by the centre-left opposition as well as among Italy's roughly 1.2 million Muslims, almost two per cent of the mainly Catholic population.

Donatella Ferranti, a member of the opposition Democratic Party, says the plan is "unconstitutional because it infringes on religious freedom".

Barbara Saltamartini, who is responsible for equal opportunities in Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, said "Muslim women have the right to their own identity and the burqa is not part of the Muslim tradition".

Berlusconi's centre-right coalition has clashed with the Muslim community in the past over its opposition to the construction of new mosques.

France, whose five million Muslims make up Europe's largest Islamic minority, banned Muslim headscarves in state schools in 2004 and a recent proposal for a burqa ban has sparked outcry in the Muslim world.

In Canada there is also a call to ban the burqua on the grounds of national security.

And it is coming not from political parties but the Muslim Canadian Congress, which describes the burqua as a symbol of Islamic extremism as well as a security risk. And it is asking the federal government to ban its use in public.

The congress is also urging a ban on the traditional headscarf known as the niqab. It says there is nothing in the Koran that requires women to cover their faces.

It fact, it says women are actually forbidden to wear burkas at one of Islam's holiest sites, the grand mosque in Mecca.

The group calls covering female faces a "medieval, misogynist practice" that can lead to heightened security risks, citing bank robberies in Canada and overseas.

Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, said the ban would not extend to the hijab, a traditional headscarf that does not cover the face.

Ontario's Human Rights Commissioner, Barbara Hall, does not feel that there should be an across-the-board ban without reference to the traditions and religious practices of the people affected.

She said Canada has a tradition of respecting religious rights and this must apply to everyone. She says what is needed is a correct balance to protect religious as well as individual rights.