INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The United Nations Security Council will meet on Thursday to discuss an order by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) for women to cover
their faces in public.UN special envoy for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, is due to brief the 15-member council, said Norway&s UN mission,
which requested the closed-door meeting ''to address the increased restrictions on human rights and freedoms of girls and women.Under the
IEA&s previous rule from 1996 to 2001, women had to cover up, could not work, and girls were banned from school
But after seizing power in August, they vowed to respect women&s rights, Reuters reported.However in March, the IEA backtracked on their
announcement that high schools would open for girls, saying they would remain closed until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic
law for them to reopen.Then on Saturday the IEA&s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, said that if a woman did not cover her face
outside home, her father or closest male relative would be visited and face potential prison or firing from state jobs.Most women in
Afghanistan wear a headscarf for religious reasons but many in urban areas such as Kabul do not cover their faces.The post UN Security
Council to discuss IEA ordering women to cover faces first appeared on Ariana News.
