Italy rules out Burkini and Burka ban fearing law could provoke terror attack

Italy has ruled out following in the footsteps of a half a dozen French resorts saying it will not ban the Burkini, or the burqa, because such a step could provoke a blacklash in the Muslim community and provoke a terror attack.

Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera that he would not, like Cannes and Sisco in Corsica, be seeking a ban on the Muslim bathing costume.

"The interior minister has a responsibility to ensure safety and to choose the level of hardness in the answers but never becomes provocation potentially able to attract attacks," he was quoted as saying when asked his position on banning the burqa.

"I do not think, alas, that the French model would work for the better," he added referring to the banning of the burkini.

In France, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has waded into the ongoing debate on the burkini following riots in Corsica. He said wearing the burqini was "not compatible with the values of France and the Republic" and supported in local cases where mayors wanted to ban the swimming costume for the public good.

Three more resorts in France: Lecuate, Oye-Plage in Pas-de-Calais and Le Tourquet have said they wish to place a ban on the burkini. However, in Le Touquet, local mayor and MP Daniel Fasquelle has admitted he wasn't aware the item of clothing had been worn on the resort's beaches.

"There are no burqinis in Le Touquet at the moment, but I don't want the town hall to be caught offguard if we are affected by this phenomenon," Fasquelle told AFP.

Alfano has said he wants to see an end to mosques in homes and Imams using their positions to spread radical Islam. "Enough already with these homemade mosques springing up in garages," he was quoted as saying. Alfano has overseen the deportation of nine such imams for promoting radical Islam since the start of last year.