French far-right National Front presidential candidate Marine Le Pen canceled a meeting on Tuesday with Lebanon&#39;s grand mufti, its top cleric for Sunni Muslims, after refusing to wear a headscarf for the encounter.

Le Pen, among the frontrunners for the presidency, is using a two-day visit to Lebanon to bolster her foreign policy credentials nine weeks from the April 23 first round, and may be partly targeting potential Franco-Lebanese votes.

Many Lebanese fled to France, Lebanon&#39;s former colonial power, during their country&#39;s 1975-1990 civil war and became French citizens.

After meeting Christian President Michel Aoun -- her first public handshake with a head of state -- and Sunni Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Monday, she had been scheduled to meet the Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian

He heads the Dar al-Fatwa, the top religious authority for Sunni Muslims in the multireligious country.

&quot;I met the grand mufti of Al-Azhar,&quot; she told reporters, referring to a visit in 2015 to Cairo&#39;s 1,000-year-old centre of Islamic learning. &quot;The highest Sunni authority didn&#39;t have this requirement, but it doesn&#39;t matter.

&quot;You can pass on my respects to the grand mufti, but I will not cover myself up,&quot; she said.

The cleric&#39;s press office said Le Pen&#39;s aides had been informed beforehand that a headscarf was required for the meeting and had been &quot;surprised by her refusal&quot;.

But it was no surprise in the French political context.

French law bans headscarves in the public service and for high school pupils, in the name of church-state separation and equal rights for women. Le Pen wants to extend this ban to all public places, a measure that would affect Muslims most of all.

Buoyed by the election of President Donald Trump in the United States and by Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union, Le Pen&#39;s anti-immigration, anti-EU National Front (FN) hopes for similar populist momentum in France.

Like Trump, she has said radical Islamism must be faced head on, although she has toned down her party&#39;s rhetoric to attract more mainstream support and possibly even woo some Muslim voters disillusioned with France&#39;s traditional parties.

After meeting Hariri on Monday, Le Pen went against current French policy in Syria by describing President Bashar al-Assad as the &quot;only viable solution&quot; for preventing Islamic State from taking power in Syria.

Lebanon has some 1.5 million Syrian refugees.

&quot;I explained clearly that ... Bashar al-Assad was obviously today a much more reassuring solution for France than Islamic State would be if it came to power in Syria,&quot; she told reporters.

Hariri, whose family has close links to conservative former French President Jacques Chirac and still has a home in France, issued a strongly-worded statement after their meeting.

&quot;The most serious error would be to link Islam and Muslims on the one hand and terrorism on the other,&quot; Hariri said.

&quot;The Lebanese and Arabs, like most of the world, considers that France is the home of human rights and the republican state makes no distinction between citizens on ethnic, religious or class grounds.&quot;

(Reuters)

'You can pass on my respects to the grand mufti, but I will not cover myself up,' she told reporters

French far-right National Front presidential candidate Marine Le Pen canceled a meeting on Tuesday with Lebanon's grand mufti, its top cleric for Sunni Muslims, after refusing to wear a headscarf for the encounter. Le Pen, among the frontrunners for the presidency, is using a two-day visit to Lebanon to bolster her foreign policy credentials nine weeks from the April 23 first round, and may be partly targeting potential Franco-Lebanese votes. Many Lebanese fled to France, Lebanon's former colonial power, during their country's 1975-1990 civil war and became French citizens. After meeting Christian President Michel Aoun -- her first public handshake with a head of state -- and Sunni Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Monday, she had been scheduled to meet the Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian He heads the Dar al-Fatwa, the top religious authority for Sunni Muslims in the multireligious country. "I met the grand mufti of Al-Azhar," she told reporters, referring to a visit in 2015 to Cairo's 1,000-year-old centre of Islamic learning. "The highest Sunni authority didn't have this requirement, but it doesn't matter. "You can pass on my respects to the grand mufti, but I will not cover myself up," she said. The cleric's press office said Le Pen's aides had been informed beforehand that a headscarf was required for the meeting and had been "surprised by her refusal". But it was no surprise in the French political context. French law bans headscarves in the public service and for high school pupils, in the name of church-state separation and equal rights for women. Le Pen wants to extend this ban to all public places, a measure that would affect Muslims most of all. Buoyed by the election of President Donald Trump in the United States and by Britain's vote to leave the European Union, Le Pen's anti-immigration, anti-EU National Front (FN) hopes for similar populist momentum in France. Like Trump, she has said radical Islamism must be faced head on, although she has toned down her party's rhetoric to attract more mainstream support and possibly even woo some Muslim voters disillusioned with France's traditional parties. After meeting Hariri on Monday, Le Pen went against current French policy in Syria by describing President Bashar al-Assad as the "only viable solution" for preventing Islamic State from taking power in Syria. Lebanon has some 1.5 million Syrian refugees. "I explained clearly that ... Bashar al-Assad was obviously today a much more reassuring solution for France than Islamic State would be if it came to power in Syria," she told reporters. Hariri, whose family has close links to conservative former French President Jacques Chirac and still has a home in France, issued a strongly-worded statement after their meeting. "The most serious error would be to link Islam and Muslims on the one hand and terrorism on the other," Hariri said. "The Lebanese and Arabs, like most of the world, considers that France is the home of human rights and the republican state makes no distinction between citizens on ethnic, religious or class grounds." (Reuters)

Far-right Le Pen cancels meeting with Lebanon grand mufti after refusing to wear headscarf

France&#39;s far-right leader Marine Le Pen launched her presidential campain on Sunday by promising to reject the tenets of mainstream politics and quit the eurozone.

Le Pen has also vowed to impose heavier taxes on foreign workers and remove red-tape in small firms, themes that has catapulted the eurosceptic as one of the likely winners in this year&#39;s elections in France.

Although polls show her in second place behind the centrist former banker&nbsp;Emmanuel Macron, the recent attack on a soldier near Louvre Museum has fuelled her presidential bid as one of her 144 &quot;commitments&quot; to the nation is also about arming the police &quot;massively&quot; to thwart terrorist action.

Le Pen, trotting her trump card of exiting Europe, said that she would hold a referendum if other European partners refuse to agree with her decision of quitting the eurozone.

She spoke about seeing her country not lose its identity by the influx of immigrants and refugees, and a state with its own borders.

Le Pen has previously spoken about her consternation related to immigrants and refugess, saying their presence was not only a dilution of French values but also risked the possibility of terror attacks in the country.

The 48-year-old leader of the National Front (FN) favours an overhauled European Union without a single currency.&nbsp;

Le Pen has also benefitted from the scandal that has rocked her conservative rival Francois&nbsp;Fillon, who was widely tipped to win the May 7 runoffs.

Fillon has been swamped with allegations&nbsp;about&nbsp;his wife Penelope earning more than 800,000 euros ($860,000) as a parliamentary aide without apparently ever working in the National Assembly building.

He also allegedly helped his children earn an additional&nbsp;84,000 euros working as parliamentary aides.

Le Pen hopes to capitalise on the same rejection of mainstream politics that helped the Brexit camp win in Britain and swept Donald Trump to the US presidency.

She has worked to rid the FN of its more extremist, anti-Semitic fringe since taking over from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has repeatedly referred to the Nazi gas chambers as a &quot;detail&quot; of history.

(WION with inputs from AFP)

&nbsp;

The far-right leader has vowed to exit the eurozone and impose higher taxes on foreign workers

France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen launched her presidential campain on Sunday by promising to reject the tenets of mainstream politics and quit the eurozone. Le Pen has also vowed to impose heavier taxes on foreign workers and remove red-tape in small firms, themes that has catapulted the eurosceptic as one of the likely winners in this year's elections in France. Although polls show her in second place behind the centrist former banker Emmanuel Macron, the recent attack on a soldier near Louvre Museum has fuelled her presidential bid as one of her 144 "commitments" to the nation is also about arming the police "massively" to thwart terrorist action. Le Pen, trotting her trump card of exiting Europe, said that she would hold a referendum if other European partners refuse to agree with her decision of quitting the eurozone. She spoke about seeing her country not lose its identity by the influx of immigrants and refugees, and a state with its own borders. Le Pen has previously spoken about her consternation related to immigrants and refugess, saying their presence was not only a dilution of French values but also risked the possibility of terror attacks in the country. The 48-year-old leader of the National Front (FN) favours an overhauled European Union without a single currency. Le Pen has also benefitted from the scandal that has rocked her conservative rival Francois Fillon, who was widely tipped to win the May 7 runoffs. Fillon has been swamped with allegations about his wife Penelope earning more than 800,000 euros ($860,000) as a parliamentary aide without apparently ever working in the National Assembly building. He also allegedly helped his children earn an additional 84,000 euros working as parliamentary aides. Le Pen hopes to capitalise on the same rejection of mainstream politics that helped the Brexit camp win in Britain and swept Donald Trump to the US presidency. She has worked to rid the FN of its more extremist, anti-Semitic fringe since taking over from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has repeatedly referred to the Nazi gas chambers as a "detail" of history. (WION with inputs from AFP)

France's Le Pen launches presidential campaign with anti-EU rhetoric

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Far-right Le Pen cancels meeting with Lebanon grand mufti after refusing to wear headscarf

France's Le Pen launches presidential campaign with anti-EU rhetoric