Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has scrapped a decree which
ordered female government employees to cover their hair at work.
The ban, imposed on 4 January, was resisted by opposition
groups.
A statement in his office said It was lifted because it made
women "unhappy" adding that they were his "best friends".
Last month, the president declared the Muslim-majority
country an Islamic republic.
He said the move was in line with the nation's
"religious identity and values".
A memo published in the pro-opposition Freedom and
JollofNews newspapers, dated 4 January, said that an "executive directive
has been issued that all female staff within the government ministries,
departments and agencies are no longer allowed to expose their hair during
official working hours".
But on Thursday, Mr Jammeh's office said that the
government's initial ban had had "nothing to do with religion" and
that women should not be upset by it.
The Gambia is popular with Western tourists because of its
beaches. About 90% of Gambians are Muslim - and many Muslim scholars believe
that Islam orders women to cover their hair in public.
Rights activists accuse Mr Jammeh - who has been in power
since 1994 - of presiding over a brutal regime which is intolerant of dissent.
He portrays himself as a devout Muslim with miraculous
powers - once claiming that he could cure Aids with a herbal concoction.
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