Thursday, November 15, 2007

Maldives moves against veiled women, jihadis - AFP

nov 15th, 2007
 
this will of course be reversed after the saudis have a little tete-a-tete with gayoom.

 
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: j

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1133194

Maldives moves against veiled women, jihadis

AFP
Wednesday, November 14, 2007  19:10 IST

MALE: State-run television in the Maldives has been ordered not to employ women who cover their heads and to stop praising Palestinian suicide bombers, a government minister said.   

The measures are part of a package of restrictions designed to stem a feared spread of militant Islam that could damage the Indian Ocean archipelago's status as a top destination for rich tourists.    "We have instructed Television Maldives to stop hiring female anchors who wear head scarves and not show fully veiled women, even in news reports," Information Minister Mohamed Nasheed said in an interview on late Tuesday.   

He said state-run television had also been ordered to no longer refer to Palestinian suicide bombers as 'jihadis' -- or holy warriors -- and to cease glorifying 'holy war'. "We are taking off panelists on programmes who are not moderate, going through scripts, checking terminology to make sure there is no language that contains extremist kinds of things," he said.   

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ordered a crackdown on radical Islam after a bomb attack in the capital Male on September 29 wounded a British honeymoon couple, eight Chinese and two Japanese tourists.   

The Sunni Muslim nation of 330,000 people has been regarded as one of the most peaceful places in the world, building one of South Asia's most successful economies on its upmarket tourism.    "Tourism has since recovered. There was a slight dip after the blast. But we can't afford another blast, it will kill the industry," Nasheed said.   

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