Egypt's first veiled minister

Here is what the AFP story had to say: Egypt's cabinet reshuffle brought in only a handful new faces, but for the first time in the history of the country, they included a veiled woman. Aisha Abdul Hadi was appointed labour and immigration minister in the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif that was sworn in on Saturday. The arrival of the first veiled woman in government came after the country's December parliamentary polls, which saw the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, who won 20 percent of the seats in the 454-strong assembly. Is this politically significant? It could be. I mean, no woman becomes a minister without Suzanne Mubarak's approval, and Suzy is famous for distasting the Hijab (Rumor has it that she forced Hedi, Alaa Mubarak's wife into house arrest when she thought of wearing it) and women who wear it. So maybe this is a concession to the MB, or the rising islamic current in the country, or maybe the woman was veiled all her life and was qualified to be a minister, and the reality is, her post is meaningless : This is a victory for women in egypt the same way our presidential elections was a victory for democracy. But who knows? I wouldn't classify it as a move by the egyptian government to appear more islamic yet; but if Gammal grew a little beard, let me know!