Comoros regime tightens screw on 'un-Islamic' trends

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

MORONI (AFP) — The Comoros has in recent weeks launched a crackdown on "loose morals", prompting concern among women and intellectuals that the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago was poised to become a Sharia state.

In the name of the preservation of "the Comoran identity", Minister for Islamic Affairs Mmadi Ali has spearheaded a drive to impose curbs on immodest clothing among women, the sale of alcohol and teenage parties.

"Wearing any clothing item which reveals intimate parts of the body or the sight of which can offend dignity is prohibited," said a ministerial decree issued in May.

The authorities have banned large festive gatherings such as birthday parties or end-of-year school bashes, arguing that they led to depraved behaviour among the country's youth....