Muslim Sues for Veil on Licence

A Muslim woman has sued the state of Florida to demand the right to appear fully veiled in the photograph on her driving licence, arguing that it violates her religious beliefs to show her face.

Authorities in Florida invoked security grounds to cancel Sultaana Freeman's driving licence three months after the September 11 attacks when she refused to pose for a new photograph without her veil.

Ms Freeman has covered her face except for her eyes since 1997, when she converted to Islam. She was granted a driving licence in Florida in 2001.

But state authorities told the court in Orlando this week that the new security climate made it crucial for police to be able to use driving licences as a means of identification, and that Ms Freeman could no longer be given an exemption.

Ms Freeman told the court that she permitted no photos in her house, and that she coloured over pictures of people on cereal boxes with a felt-tip pen. "Wearing a religious veil is a peaceful, modest act; I am not a threat to public safety because of practising Islam," she said in a statement.

However, she admitted she was photographed without a veil in 1998 when she received a suspended sentence for battering two girls in her care.

Civil rights groups argue that Ms Freeman's legal battle is a product of growing discrimination against Muslims and Arabs. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee documented more than 700 hate crimes against Arabs and Muslims in the first weeks after September 11.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is supporting Ms Freeman's legal challenge, says Florida's arguments about security are designed to camouflage discriminatory new policies.

It said 15 US states allowed exemptions from licence photographs on religious grounds, and that Florida had granted 800,000 temporary licences without photographs in the past five years.