DUBAI, 9 March 2004 — Arab women should be given equal opportunity under a fair legal framework for female rights, the wife of the king of Bahrain said in a rare interview published yesterday to mark International Women’s Day.
Sheikha Sabika Al-Khalifa called for the framework to be put in place in the Arab world to ensure women had a “fair and efficient” role in development and “equal opportunity”.
“Opposing progress is inadmissible,” the first wife of Sheikh Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, adding that Islam allowed for the development of society, contrary to the “mistaken” view of extremists. “We have to adapt to the demands of our age and understand our differences,” she said in Beirut ahead of a two-day conference, hosted by Lebanese first lady Andree Lahud, on the theme of “Woman and Armed Conflicts.”
Many of the Arab world’s leading ladies have gathered for the meeting which opened yesterday, including Asma Assad, wife of the Syrian president; Suzanne Mubarak, wife of Egypt’s president; and Jordan’s Queen Rania.
Defending Islam as “the religion of life, unfortunately, some people use it as a threat and a weapon, which is a mistake,” said Sheikha Sabika, whose first son, Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, is Bahrain’s crown prince.
