• Niqab ban in Swedish school is 'discriminatory'

AFP said that in gender-equality Sweden, a grassroots movement defending women's right to wear hijab has split the nation, backed by politicians and celebrities, while critics say it supports a symbol of female “oppression.”

In a move to show solidarity with a heavily pregnant Muslim woman who says she was attacked outside Stockholm for wearing a veil, more than 2,000 Swedish women have posted photographs of themselves wearing headscarves on social media sites.

The "hijab outcry" campaigners urged the government to "ensure that Swedish Muslim women are guaranteed the right to... religious freedom".