Somalia: Govt Bans Face Scarves As 'Security Threat' The Reporter (Addis Ababa) 12 May 2007 Posted to the web 12 May 2007 Addis Ababa The Somali government is cracking down on women wearing face scarves, fearing the clothing poses a threat to security in the volatile capital Mogadishu. The government is not allowing women to wear the traditional Niqab, a scarf that covers the face and sometimes extends to the body. Authorities said the new measure aimed to "prevent extremists and terrorists from exploiting the Niqab to carry out suicide attacks against the [government] and against Ethiopian forces," the London-based A-Sharq Al-Awsat reported. They said extremists were using the clothing to hide themselves from the security forces. Somalia has been facing grave security problems since Islamists, who had previously taken over the capital, were defeated by government forces with backing from Ethiopian troops in January. Islamists have since regrouped and the capital remains insecure. Ugandan peacekeepers have been faced with violence since they deployed in Mogadishu in March. Many civilians have fled the capital since February and more than 1,000 people have been killed in clashes. The new campaign against wearing Niqabs has generated criticism from Somali women who say they are being subject to security crackdowns and forced to flee from government forces so as not to have to remove their face covering. Some women said security personnel forcibly removed the scarf from their faces and threatened them. The Somali government is defending the sudden decision, explaining it as a temporary measure, which is necessary for maintaining security. The newspaper said local policemen in the capital collected dozens of clothing items used as Niqabs and burned them in public. http://allafrica.com/stories/200705120118.html

Plan To Keep Voters From Returning to Mogadishu This situation with the niqab where the Somali women who chose to wear it are forced not to wear it in Mogadishu is a clear example of what type of government we have in Somalia with President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minister Gedi. When one makes accusations that terrorists are hiding behind the niqab face covering that some Muslim females wear, it is important that they show the evidence. No such evidence has been shown, just as no evidence has been produced that Somalia had three “terrorists” as claimed by the Bush Administration and Prime Minister Zenawi of Ethiopia. Yet these men commanded the killings of thousands in Somalia and displacement of hundreds of thousands. The United Nations should not tolerate this sort of behavior from a government that could not stand one day on its own without Ethiopian mercenary soldiers funded largely by American tax dollars. Here in America, Muslim women can wear the niqab, in spite of the attacks of 9/11. Yes, there are many in this country as there are in France who would like to ban it, and it has been banned in France. I have stated before that the well armed Ethiopian military has been fighting against mostly malnourished boys and young men in Mogadishu. The mothers of these youth support them. The target is the Somali women. Why is the Bush Administration, the Ethiopian government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the United Nations allowing President Abdullahi Yusuf to do this to Somali women? The main purpose of this is to intimidate. What do they expect to accomplish through this intimidation? Put great fear in the women. This would greatly diminish the courage of their young sons. Prevent most of the 400,000 who were chased out of Mogadishu from returning to be voters in the near future. Every African American and person who recognizes the same type of lies that President Bush was telling regarding Iraq should protest against this. It is genocide when a government tampers with something central to religion to gain political advantage.