Le Pen sparks row by refusing to wear veil in Lebanon

beirut — France’s far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen sparked controversy on Tuesday during her brief visit to Lebanon when she refused to wear a veil to meet the country’s top cleric.

On her last day in the small Mediterranean country, Le Pen arrived at Sheikh Abdellatif Deryan’s office in Beirut and was offered a white shawl to cover her blonde hair.

The National Front candidate promptly refused and made a brief statement to journalists before leaving.

“The highest authority in the world had not had this requirement, so I have no reason to,” Le Pen said, referring to her 2015 visit to Al Azhar, the prestigious Egyptian institution of Islamic learning.

The National Front candidate said she had told Deryan’s office on Monday that she would not don a veil: “They did not cancel the meeting, so I thought they would accept that I will not wear the scarf.”—

AFP An aide of Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian (right) holds a headscarf as he tries to convince Marine Le Pen to wear it during her meeting with the Mufti at Dar Al Fatwa, the headquarters of the Mufti, in Beirut, Lebanon. —