KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday said a guideline concerning women issued by the Afghanistan Ulema Council, involving the country's top religious scholars, was in accordance with the Sharia.
Issued on Feb. 2, the guideline prohibits women from meeting men in public places like bazaars, offices and educational institutes. It said women, while travelling, must always be accompanied by male guardians.

But western media reports quoted some people as saying that the guideline was in conflict with the Constitution and amounted to curbing women's right.

At a news conference in Kabul, Karzai said: "The Ulema Council, which issues a guideline every month, has in fact supported women in line with Islamic laws."

Last Friday, the president added, the scholars handed out a statement that supported women's stance in keeping with Islamic values. "It represents the country's Islamic viewpoint and all Muslims of Afghanistan are bound to respect it."
The Ulema Council recently adopted a clear stand on violence, the president recalled. (Pajhwok)