Call for council to protect women's rights in Yemen

Sana'a: A human rights activist called on Tuesday for a council to protect Yemeni women from tribal and religious extremists who are trying to exclude women from public life.

Huriah Mashhoor, vice-chairperson of the National Committee of Women, a pro-government NGO, said a coordination council to support women in running for upcoming parliamentary elections in April 2009 is needed.

"The council should be made up of representatives of civil society, political parties, and the media with the objective of furthering the quota system for women in elections," Mashhoor told Gulf News.

"The quota system is facing strong resistance from some tribal and religious extremists," said Mashhoor, veteran human rights and women's rights advocate.

The planned council will defend women's rights in politics after a recently-established tribal and religious alliance called for banning women from running in elections.

A group of extremist Salafi scholars and tribal chiefs established last month what they called "a panel for promoting virtue and combating vice" and issued a fatwa prohibiting women's participation in elections as candidates under the quota system.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh made a proposal recently to reserve 15 per cent of seats in the elected House of Representatives and appointed Shura Council for women.