French minister holds talks with Muslim leaders amid debate on burkini ban

Amid the ongoing debate on whether France should ban the Muslim swimsuit burkini, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Monday met clerics of the Muslim community to discuss Muslims' better integration in the secular French state.

"France, more than ever, needs a peaceful relationship with Muslims," Cazenevue said.

At the conference, Cazeneuve said he wanted to reach "a new stage of successful pacts with Islam in accordance with the values of the Republic."

Controversy was sparked after mayors of some coastal French towns banned Muslim women from wearing the burkini, a swim suit covering all of their bodies, on beaches.

On Friday, France's highest administrative court overturned the ban in the southern city of Villeneuve-Loube. It will prepare a definitive ruling expected to set a legal precedent for other towns also banning the burkini on their beaches.

However, the court's ruling failed to ease the debate with several leaders on the right and far right calling for a new law which would ban the burkini.

But Cazeneuve said, "we do not need a new law. Current laws clearly lay out France's secularism," adding, "the government refuses to legislate on this because a law would be unconstitutional, ineffective, and likely to create antagonism and irreparable tensions."

The talks are expected also to discuss how to better establish a foundation for Islam in France, which will support cultural, educational, and social projects to cope with mounting radicalism and an alarming number of French youth wanting to join militants in Syria.

This summer was bloody in France. A Tunisian man who had "certain recent interest in radical jihadist movements" drove his truck into crowds in Nice in southern France and killed 86 people who were celebrating Bastille Day.

At the end of July, two teenagers claiming links with the Islamic State slaughtered a priest in a church in northern France.

France is home to Europe's largest Muslim community with five million people. The country currently prohibits Muslim headscarves and other religious symbols from being worn at schools. Endit