First Female Muslim Judge in UAE

Abu Dhabi: “I’m not afraid of taking on the responsibility of a judge, it’s an honour for me,” the first female Emirati judge told Gulf News on Friday.

Kholoud Al Daheri, who was appointed as a judge in the Abu Dhabi courts last week, said: “I know some people do not accept women as judges and don’t prefer them in their cases, but the court system doesn’t give parties in any case the right to choose the judges.”

The United Arab Emirates yesterday got its first woman judge, a job hitherto reserved for men.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, acting in his capacity as ruler of Abu Dhabi, named Kholoud Ahmad Jouan Al-Dhahiri as a judge in the emirate, the largest in the seven-member UAE federation, state news agency WAM reported.

The move made the UAE the second Arab country in the Gulf after Bahrain to name a female judge.

The appointment reflects “the government’s keenness to involve women in the development drive” and “boost their role in society,” said Sultan Saaed Al-Badi, a senior official of Abu Dhabi’s judiciary.

For her part, Al-Dhahiri thanked the UAE leadership for its confidence in her. “I will endeavor to perform my functions with utmost (competence) … in order to provide a successful model of Emirati women working in the judiciary,” Dhahiri was quoted by WAM as saying.

She added that the UAE women had shown great capability in many fields, adding that the judiciary would be another challenge for women.

The new judge graduated in law and shariah (Islamic law) from UAE University and has been a practicing lawyer for eight years, the news agency said.

The UAE Cabinet includes four women. Nine women also sit on the 40-member Federal National Council, an assembly that advises the government.

Kuwaiti Women Won Four Seats in Parliment

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Women won four seats in Kuwait's parliament, a first for the Gulf Arab state, in an election that also saw liberals and Shi'ites claw five seats away from Sunni Islamists who have long dominated the 50-seat assembly.

Former minister Massouma al-Mubarak smiles at a polling station in Kuwait City May 16, 2009. (REUTERS/Stephanie McGehee)

The gains at the expense of Islamists, who have led parliamentary opposition to the government's economic reform efforts and who are allied to conservative tribal figures who won 25 seats, may not be enough to end the long-running tussle.

"The results of the elections were a surprise for all but many of the 'deadlock' MPs returned, especially from the tribal areas. It remains to be seen how the government will deal with economic reforms," political analyst Shamlan al-Eissa said.

Kuwait's ruler, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, called the election after dissolving the assembly two months ago to end the standoff between parliament and the government, which is heavily influenced by the ruling family.

The move allowed the government and al-Sabah to push ahead with a $5 billion stimulus package to soften the effects of the global financial crisis. The new assembly must now vote on the plan again.

FEWER SUNNI LAWMAKERS

Sunni Islamists won just 11 seats on Saturday, down from 21 in the last assembly. Liberals won eight seats, up from seven last year. Lawmakers representing the Shi'ite community, which comprises a third of Kuwait's population, rose by four to nine.

Kuwait's first women lawmakers include Massouma al-Mubarak, who became Kuwait's first female minister in 2005, the year women were first given the right to vote and run for office. The others are U.S.-educated professors Salwa al-Jassar and Aseel Awadhi and leading economist Rola Dashti.

No women won seats in the 2006 and 2008 elections in the conservative Muslim country where politics is still widely seen as a man's domain.

The Salafist Movement, a Sunni Islamist bloc, had called on voters to boycott female candidates though analysts predicted the move could backfire.

"Islamists have lost a lot of their credibility. They focus on matters like segregation and not able to take us anywhere," political analyst Shafiq al-Ghabra said before the poll.

Sixteen women were among the 210 candidates. Some 384,790 Kuwaitis, over half of them women, were eligible to vote.

Its so harfd to believe that Kuwait is in the same region as Saudi Arabia, yet Saudi Arabia still denies the basic right of driving (freedom of movement) to women (foreigners and natives).

Iranian Candidate Wants to Pay Housewives

Tehran, 22 May (AKI) - One of Iran's four presidential candidates on Friday pledged to pay a salary to Iranian housewives, the country's labour news agency ILNA said. "I will not only use women in key positions but also use their potential in management and will further legalise the job of housewife and pay housewives a salary," said Mohsen Rezaie current secretary of the Expediency Council, former war veteran and presidential hopeful.

Rezaie suggested tapping into a very valuable resource, as up to 70 percent of Iran's university graduates are women.

"Tens of thousands of women have in the recent years graduated in various fields and why should we not make use of this huge potential?," said Rezaie.

On Wednesday, the Iranian electoral watchdog or Guardian Council approved the country's four presidential candidates, out of an original 450 candidates, who will stand for election in the country's upcoming polls on 12 June.

The other candidates include incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is seeking a second term in office, reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi who is a former speaker of the parliament or Majlis, and former prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi.

Iran's Guardian Council is an unelected religious oversight body that vets all election candidates and assesses their moral values and support for the country's system of Islamic government.

More than 450 Iranians, including 42 women, have registered as prospective presidential candidates. More than 46 million Iranians are eligible to take part in the vote.

Here is Somethign Funny!

While I was shopping I came across this packaging for a blow up pool.....

This is a regular sight in Saudi Arabia, where semi clad women are blacked out with permanent marker before they hit the shelves.....