CHAD-SECURITY Chad bans burqa after suicide bombings

Record ID: 151736

  • Title: CHAD-SECURITY Chad bans burqa after suicide bombings
  • Date: 19th June 2015
  • Summary: N'DJAMENA, CHAD (JUNE 19, 2015) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** (SOUNDBITE) (French) CHAD PRIME MINISTER, KALZEUBET PAHIMI DEUBET, SAYING: "The ban, on the entire national territory, of the full coverage of the face, which hides the face of a person, notably in the wearing of the burqa, the systematic seizure and destruction of burqas
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Chad
  • Country: Chad
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5LZQZ7138HDVPT85L898TXDFX
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    PLEASE NOTE: QUALITY AS INCOMING
    Chad reinforced the ban on religious head-to-toe burqas on Friday (June 19) and said it planned to round up beggars and some foreigners as part of a security clamp-down, days after two suicide attacks on its capital blamed on Boko Haram Islamist militants from neighbouring Nigeria.
    Prime Minister Kalzeube Pahimi Deubet of the mostly Muslim country said religious turbans should also be banned, as both of these clothing items could hide weapons and be a threat to security.
    "The ban, on the entire national territory, of the full coverage of the face, which hides the face of a person, notably in the wearing of the burqa, the systematic seizure and destruction of burqas in the markets, meaning the full veil which sometimes serves as camouflage for bad-intentioned individuals, terrorists or other delinquents" Deubet said.
    Deubet also announced the round-up of some foreigners who would all be held in a centre in Baga Sola, a town near Lake Chad, close to the Nigerian border. He gave no further detail.
    He also said boating and fishing would be banned on parts of the River Chari that flows into the Lake Chad. Boko Haram militants have launched several deadly attacks around the lake, often arriving in motorised canoes from Nigeria.
    Some Imams in N'Djamena said they were not against the measures, but he said he can see how others may be offended.
    "[The Koran] says that women should lower their veil to their chest, it's clear. But this Koranic verse has had different interpretations. The Malekit think that women should have faces and hands uncovered. But others say no, the entirety of a woman's body should be covered. That's where the divergence comes in," said Imam Mouhammad Albouhari.
    Residents in N'Djamena went about their business undisturbed since the ban was first announced on Wednesday (June 17).
    Veiled women walked around in the capital without observing the ban. Some said such a ban could never be enforced.
    "In all honesty, I've been wearing a burqa since I was a child. We can not give it up just because an unidentified man came and caused death in this country. The terrorist issue has many facets. [The attacks] are something that's been planned for a long time, and they didn't happen because of the burqa. So we can't stop wearing the burqa. The government should find other ways of fighting this problem," said a veiled woman in N'Djamena, who declined to give her name.
    But others welcomed the ban.
    "What we'd like is to see everyone without a burqa and without a turban. Everybody should be visible and recognisable. They sit next to us in a bus and we can't see their faces. Then when they get off the bus, they say hello and you don't know who they are, because they are unrecognisable in their disguise. We are in favour of this decision and we salute it," said Alfane, a driver from the Chadian capital.
    "First of all, I want to congratulate them for taking such a wise decision because many things happen inside when we wear a burqa, we don't know if it's a woman or a man. Terrorists take advantage and dress like that. But first of all we should have an awareness campaign," said Fathia, another woman from N'Djamena.
    More than 100 people were wounded in the attacks on a central police station and a police school in the capital.
    Chad, which has played a leading role in winning territory back from the group, said it has already retaliated with air strikes against Boko Haram militants in Nigeria. A military spokesman in Nigeria denied this.
    Its capital serves as a command centre for a regional anti-Boko Haram taskforce made up of troops from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin as well as for France's 3,000-strong Barkhane mission fighting militancy in the region.
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