Hundreds of Muslims marching in Paris and other French cities Saturday to protest a new law banning Islamic headscarves and other religious insignia in schools threatened to show their discontent by voting against the government in regional elections next month.
However the demonstrations failed to produce the groundswell of opposition the organisers had been hoping for among France's five-million strong Muslim population.
In Paris, an estimated 1,000 men and women - many of the latter wearing scarves over their hair - marched with banners proclaiming "No to the racist law against young people who wear headscarves" and "One scarf = One vote".
In the southern city of Marseille, 300 to 500 protesters gathered, according to different counts given by police and organisers.
Police in Montpellier said a 600-strong march filed through the city, while organisers said 1,500 took part.
Police in Perpignan said a demonstration scheduled for there did not take place.
Despite the relatively low turn-outs, protesters said they were determined to maintain their public pressure against the draft law on "secularity", which passed its first hurdle in the lower house of parliament last Tuesday and is now before the upper house.
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