UK veil row teacher loses dismissal case

LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) A British industrial tribunal ruled today that a Muslim teaching assistant had not been discriminated against when the school which employed her asked that she remove her veil.

Interest in the case of 24-year-old Aishah Azmi's against Kirklees Council was fuelled after former British foreign minister Jack Straw said Muslim women who wore full veils made community relations difficult.

In comments earlier this month Straw said he would prefer that women did not wear them because they acted as a ''visible statement of separation and difference.'' today a Kirklees Council official said Azmi's claims of direct and indirect discrimination and of harrassment had been thrown out by the employment tribunal.

He said Azmi had been awarded 1,100 pounds for hurt feelings because of the council's failure to correctly follow grievance procedures.

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