Syria bans 'destabilising' Islamic veil

DAMASCUS - Syria has forbidden the country's students and teachers from wearing the niqab - the full Islamic veil that reveals only a woman's eyes - taking aim at a garment many see as political.

The ban shows a rare point of agreement between Syria's secular, authoritarian government and some democracies of Europe: Both view the niqab as a potentially destabilising threat.

"We have given directives to all universities to ban niqab-wearing women from registering," a government official said.

The order affects both public and private universities and aims to protect Syria's secular identity. Hundreds of primary school teachers who were wearing the niqab at government-run schools were transferred to administrative jobs, he added.

The ban does not affect the hijab, or headscarf, which is far more common in Syria than the niqab's robes.

Syria is the latest in a string of nations to weigh in on the veil, perhaps the most visible symbol of conservative Islam.

Turkey bans Muslim headscarves in universities, with many saying attempts to allow them in schools amount to an attack on modern Turkey's secular laws.

France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands are considering banning the niqab on the grounds it is degrading to women.

Last week, France's Lower House of Parliament approved a ban on both the niqab and the burqa - a move that angered many in the country's large Muslim community.

- AP