CAEN, France (AP) – President Barack Obama says he’s not responsible for how other countries defend religious freedoms but added the United States would never tell people what they can wear to express their faith.

Obama on Saturday met with French President Nicholas Sarkozy and said there should not be separate standards for different religions or limits on faith. It was a familiar refrain from his Thursday speech to Muslims in Cairo.

The issue of religious expression is a challenge in France. The country’s separation of church and state is so staunch that schoolchildren cannot wear Muslim head scarves or large crosses around their necks in public schools.

Sarkozy says France is a secular nation; Obama says individual rights should not be limited.

AP-ES-06-06-09 0907EDT


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