President Francois Hollande yesterday said that Islam could co-exist with secularism, warning in a speech seen as preparing the ground for a re-election bid that the anti-terror fight should not undermine French values.

In a passionate plea for tolerance, he defended the country's Muslim minority following a vitriolic debate on the banning of the Islamic burkini swimsuit.

"Nothing in the idea of secularism opposes the practice of Islam in France, provided it respects the law," Hollande said.

Secularism was not a “state religion" to be used against other religions, he said in the speech in Paris, denouncing the “stigmatisation of Muslims".

Mayors in around 30 towns this summer cited France's century-old secular laws in banning head-to-toe swimwear on their beaches, unleashing a furore.

Hollande warned that France could not sacrifice its core values of liberty, equality and fraternity. "The declaration of human rights is not some old scroll to be framed and hung in reception rooms," he said.

Polls predict a drubbing for the 62-year-old Socialist if he throws his hat in the ring again after five years marked by stubbornly high unemployment and only timid attempts at reform.