LONDON, 3 November 2006 — Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami urged Britain’s Muslims yesterday to respect the country’s laws, while saying women should be left to decide themselves whether to wear the niqab (full-face Islamic veil).
His comments came in the wake of fierce protests over the issue in recent weeks, sparked by a senior British government minister who called on Muslim women to remove the niqab when they talk to him.
“The principle of (the) Islamic veil is an Islamic issue,” Khatami said in a BBC radio interview, adding: “This is something that women should choose themselves. It is not something which can be imposed on people by force.”
But he added: “Muslims should realize that they are living within the British society and should respect its rules and regulations. The British society should accept the Muslims as citizens and compatriots.”
Former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw trigged the debate last month, by saying he preferred to see Muslim women’s faces when he talked to them as it improved communication. This sparked a furious debate on the veil and the place of Muslims in Britain, a country still reeling from suicide bombings in July 2005 and deeply divided over its government’s decision to back the 2003 US-led war on Iraq.
Among the many viewpoints that followed, Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the niqab was a “mark of separation” and called for a broad discussion on the subject of integration.
Khatami also said that a US troop pullout from Iraq would be a “major step” toward restoring stability there. He said US policies in the Middle East have fueled radicalism worldwide.
During the interview, Khatami voiced regret at a “wall of misunderstanding” between the United States and Tehran, which Washington accuses of wanting to build nuclear weapons.
He said that former US President Bill Clinton had taken steps to restore ties between Washington and Iran in the 1990s, when Khatami was in office in Tehran. “Unfortunately after President Clinton and the Republicans taking over there has been an aggressive policy and the American policies in Iraq and other regions have contributed further to this misunderstanding,” he said.
