Kuwait women rally outside parliament before session on vote
Agence France-Presse
Kuwait City, March 7
Hundreds of Kuwaiti women rallied outside parliament on Monday to press for their political rights as MPs prepared to discuss setting a date for a debate on a government-sponsored bill that would give the Gulf state's women the vote.
"Women's rights, now," "Sharia (Islamic law) does not contain anything against women's rights," read placards raised by the demonstrators, most of which were in the blue colour symbolizing the struggle of women activists.
More than 400 people, mostly women but also including a number of male liberal sympathizers, took part in the rally.
Some of the women had their faces covered by a "niqab," a veil that covers the face, in line with conservative Muslim tradition.
Held amid a heavy police presence, the demonstration got under way as MPs prepared to discuss setting a date to debate the government bill which Islamists have vowed to oppose.
The bill, approved by the cabinet last May, amends Article One of the 1962 electoral law, which limits participation to male citizens, to bring it in line with the constitution, which stipulates gender equality.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.