Kuwait puts off first female army batch after uproar

Cairo: Kuwait’s Defence Minister Hamad Al Jaber has ordered postponing the training of the army’s first women batch, who have recently registered to enlist in the country’s army, pending approval from Islamic authorities, local media reported.

The minister made the decision at a meeting with a number of Muslim clerics who stressed the necessity of heeding religious rules in allowing women to do jobs in the army and called for seeking opinions of the country’s Iftaa Authority and Ministry of Awqaf (Endowments), Al Rai newspaper said.

Al Jaber ordered the delay of a scheduled training course for the enlistees until religious authorities are addressed and make their opinions, promising to take them into consideration and comply with them, the paper added.

“Abidance by rules of our Islamic religion is an area where there is no room for whims or personal preferences,” he was quoted as saying.

Last month, the Kuwaiti army opened registration for women wishing to join it, stirring up a controversy over the step. Opponents said the enlisting contradicts the Islamic Sharia law and Kuwaiti traditions.

Eligible applicants were required to be Kuwaiti women holding university, diploma and secondary school degrees aged 18 to 26 years. They should also be physically fit, of good conduct and pass a personal interview. Technicians were exempted from the age cap.