Source : Reuters

The wearing of Muslim face veils and headscarves in schools and at work is a sensitive topic across Europe. Here is a summary of policy in some key countries:

TURKEY

Mainly Muslim but secular Turkey bans Islamic head-dress in universities and public offices. The Islamist-rooted ruling AK Party and a key opposition party agreed on Thursday to cooperate to lift the ban for female university students. But they face stiff resistance from the powerful secular elite which includes judges, army generals and university rectors.

The secularists see the garment as a threat to the country\'s strict separation of state and religion. Opinion polls show a majority of Turks back an easing of the ban in a country where about two-thirds of all women cover their heads. Face coverings such as the Afghan-style burqa or Middle Eastern-style niqab are relatively rare in secular Turkey, which traditionally follows a moderate brand of Sunni Islam and where segregation of the sexes is very much the exception, not the rule.

NETHERLANDS

The Dutch government is set to retreat from a plan for a general ban on Muslim face veils but stop women wearing them in schools and government offices, media reported on Wednesday.The cabinet has decided against a broad ban on the burqa or niqab in public as that would violate the principle of freedom of religion, the reports said. The issue is expected to be discussed by cabinet next week.

The Muslim community says only about 50 women wear the head-to-toe burqa or the niqab, a face veil that conceals everything but the eyes. They said a general ban would heighten alienation among the country\'s about 1 million Muslims.

The previous centre-right Dutch government proposed a complete ban on face-veils in public, citing security concerns, but the centrist government that took power last year has taken a more conciliatory line on immigration.

FRANCE

France, with Europe\'s largest Muslim minority, banned headscarves from its state primary and secondary schools in 2004 under a law against conspicuous religious symbols that also included Jewish kippas and large Christian crosses. The government argued that wearing religious garb in state schools violated the legal separation of church and state. Supporters of the law also argued that impressionable young girls were forced to wear headscarves and the ban would help them decide for themselves if they wanted to cover their hair.

Britain has no official policy on headscarves or veils, but the issue has been hotly disputed. Schools are allowed to set their own dress codes, which have sometimes been challenged by girls unhappy with the rules.Solicitors and legal advisers have been told they can wear headscarves in court providing they do not interfere with proceedings. Most observers agree more and more British Muslim woman are wearing veils or headscarves.

In 2006, British politician Jack Straw caused controversy by saying he would rather Muslim women did not wear veils and that he asked those who visited him in his constituency office to remove them.

GERMANY

Policy on face veils and headscarves is a matter for individual states in Germany, not the federal government. The Interior Ministry says there are no plans for any federal laws.Seven of Germany\'s 16 states have banned teachers in state schools from wearing Islamic headscarves, a policy which angers Muslim groups who say it discriminates against them.

Hesse\'s conservative premier Roland Koch -- who is fighting for reelection -- called for a ban on pupils wearing a burqa in schools a few weeks ago. But his idea backfired when he discovered the state had no pupils who wore a burqa.

The majority of Germany\'s roughly 3.2 million Muslims are of Turkish origin.