'Respect their will to wear burqa'

BEIRUT: Lebanon's most influential Shiite cleric called on French President Nicolas Sarkozy to reconsider his statements regarding women who wear the burqa saying the will of Muslim women who decide to cover their faces should be respected.

Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah's statement came a day after Sarkozy declared the burqa is not welcome in France.

Some Muslim religious leaders interpret the Quran, the Muslim holy book, to require that women wear some type of head covering such as a burqa in the presence of men who are not their husband or close relative.