RUSSIANS FEEL FOR FRENCH HOSTAGES, POLEMIZE ABOUT FRANCE'S SECULARISM

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MOSCOW, August 31 (Pyotr Romanov, RIA Novosti Writer) - The recent crash in Russia of two passenger airliners, presumably as the result of a carefully coordinated terrorist attack, has made Russian people all the more sympathetic and worried for the two French nationals that are now being held hostage in Iraq.

Adding to the worry is the fact that this incident is an unprecedented one. Never before have Iraqi insurgents conditioned the release of their captives upon change in a Western country's national legislation. Their previous demands have all been about the withdrawal of Coalition troops from Iraq (it will be remembered that neither France, not Russia are on the U.S. - led Coalition).

In this particular case, the captors are pushing for the French government to scrap its ban on Moslem headscarves (or hijabs) at public schools, which they see as an aggression on the Islamic religion. The ban, outlawing other conspicuous signs of faith, such as Jewish skullcaps and oversized Christian crucifixes, hasn't encountered much protest in the Jewish and the Christian communities, but has aroused an outrage across the Moslem world.

The issue is not irrelevant to the modern-day Russia. Here, like in France, the mainstream faiths include Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Not so long ago, the Russians had a similar dispute over whether Moslem women should be allowed to have their ID photos taken with headscarves on. The controversy was eventually settled in the Moslem community's favor, despite strong protests from this country's law-enforcement agencies.

In France, expressing one's religious identity in public is regarded by many as a threat to secularism, or the principle of separation of state and church that has been consistently upheld by the French Republic since the 18th century.

The abduction of the two French nationals in Iraq has brought the sensitive issue of religious (in)tolerance back into the spotlight in Russia. The Moscow Patriarchy, for instance, denounces the kidnapping while at the same time criticizing the French law. "No political goals can be achieved with extremist means; those people [the kidnappers, that is] should set their captives free and try to solve the problem through peaceful dialogue, like the French Moslems have done so far," Vsevolod Chaplin, official spokesman for the Patriarchy, pointed out. He then went on to say that "it is absolutely wrong to demand compliance with rules outlawing any public expression of religious identity." That is to say, the Russian Orthodox Church supports the idea of wearing hijabs, skullcaps, and, naturally, crucifixes in public places.

Alexander Osmolov, a corresponding member of the Russian Education Academy, holds an opposite, pro-French view. "Both in Europe and in Russia, there are liberal organizations promoting the culture of tolerance in society. The imposition of restrictions on religious symbols at state schools in France can be regarded as one positive example of such activity. Amidst social tensions, the headscarf or the skullcap may pose a real threat to public order. Observant believers have the alternative of religious schools. And underlining religious differences at state schools is absolutely inappropriate these days," argues the scholar.

The French seem to have found themselves between the rock and the hard place. Prof. Georgy Mirsky, a senior fellow at the Russian Institute of World Economics & International Relations, believes that "France is in a very difficult position indeed. On the one hand, it cannot give in to Iraqi militants' demands on what is its own internal affair. Especially given that a concession will only boost Islamic militancy further. On the other hand, it would be hideous to let them [the militants] chop off the heads of the innocent French reporters. In this latter case, France will inevitably face condemnation for having sacrificed [the lives of] two of its nationals for the trifling headscarf issue. And then, for Paris to get the reporters out of captivity will be no easy task at all. The Moslem world and the resistance in Iraq are far from homogeneous. The movement known as the Islamic International is, in fact, a pretty ramified network. It has no central command. Many Islamic leaders and organizations have strongly denounced the capture of the [two French] journalists, but the question is, 'Who do their kidnappers report to?'"

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