[Libya Herald] The Libya Herald has learned from a source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tripoli...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
that female employees have been ordered to wear a khimar at work and that a scarf or hijab would not be sufficient. In many Moslem countries, a khimar is a long dress covering the head and body. Among some extreme Islamists, however, it means no only covering the head and body but the face as well.
The order did not come from the government officials, the source said, but from Islamist "advisers" who turned up at the ministry last week, ordering the female ministry staff to cover up.
They also told the ministry that it had to enforce gender segregation, with males and females in separate workspaces. Those who objected to the wearing of the khimar or the separation had be sacked, the Islamists declared. They also said they were going to other ministries with the same demands and that they would be back to ensure they had been implemented.
They further reportedly told officials that at schools and universities females should wear hijab, even those in primary school, and that there had to be full segregation in the education system.
Gender segregation in schools and colleges has become an issue in Libya, with Islamist forces trying and in some cases succeeding in imposing it in some universities.