Fury as Dawkins compares burka to 'bin-liner'

NineMSN

Outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins has re-ignited the debate over Muslim headscarves in Britain by referring to the burqa as a "full bin-liner thing". The 69-year-old British author and scientist made the controversial remark in an interview with a radio station.

He also spoke of his "visceral revulsion" when he sees women wearing the traditional Islamic clothing, he told Radio Times during the interview.

Professor Dawkins later refused to retract his comments, claiming that the burka represents "a symbol of the oppression of women", the Daily Mail reports.

He did not call for the UK to follow the French in banning the burka, as he said such legislation would not be in Britain's tradition of individual liberty and freedom of choice.

The French parliament voted last month to ban the burka and the niqab, a piece of cloth which covers the face, from public places.

Muslim groups have slammed Dawkins' claims.

"i think it is ignorant and Islamaphobic," a spokesman from the Muslim Association of Britain was quoted as saying.

"It is a woman's choice if she wishes to wear a burka, a niqab or not. Why does it matter to this man what a woman is wearing?"

It is not the first time Professor Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, has attracted criticism for his views on Islam.

In 2008 he said: "It's almost impossible to say anything against Islam in this country, because you are accused of being racist or Islamaphobic."

The radio interview was conducted ahead of the release of his new documentary arguing for the abolition of faith schools in Britain, entitled Faith Schools Menace?