In a reversal of policy, the U.S. military announced on Tuesday it would no longer require female American troops to wear the traditional "abayah" in Saudi Arabia to avoid offending Muslim sensitivities. Saudi officials have already expressed their anger following this latest American move.
Officials of the U.S. Central Command told Reuters that the step was put forth in a directive from Army General Tommy Franks to regional commanders in the Saudi kingdom and Arab Gulf region.
Franks is Head of the Command, which is responsible for American military operations in Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East and Gulf.
Ever since the 1991 Gulf War, American female troops have been required to wear the abayah, a traditional clothing, when off base in Saudi Arabia.
Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire issued a statement praising the reversed decision. It makes wearing an abayah off base subject to judgment, but strongly recommends that it be worn in the Kingdom. The new decision, however, did nothing to challenge Saudi rules against women driving automobiles or to end a U.S. requirement for servicewomen to be escorted by a man when they leave their base.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Martha McSally, America’s highest-ranking female fighter pilot, had previously filed a lawsuit to end the policy, which the Pentagon declared was needed in order to avoid offending Muslim sensitivities.
This new development comes admist doubts over the future of U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia raised after an American lawmaker declared U.S. troops might have to abandon the Prince Sultan Airbase in Al-Kharj due to restrictions on military personnel.
The Washington Post on Friday quoted an anonymous Saudi official as saying that the United States had "overstayed its welcome" and its forces had become a political liability. (Albawaba.com)
