Egypt minister emerges unscathed from headscarf row

CAIRO, Nov 30 (Reuters) A flamboyant Egyptian minister who sparked a political furore when he described the Muslim headscarf as a ''step backward'' appears to have emerged largely unscathed from a row that many had predicted would unseat him.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, an abstract painter known for his liberal views and a member of Egypt's ruling party, ended two weeks of self-imposed seclusion from public events on Tuesday to launch Cairo's annual film festival.

The audience of celebrities, intellectuals and show business executives greeted him with loud applause, as if to congratulate him on surviving the conservative Islamist campaign against him.

Hosni neither offered his resignation, as demanded by Islamists, nor apologised for saying Egypt would not progress so long as its people depended on religious edicts ''worth 5 cents''.

''The bottom line is that to hand in a resignation or make an official apology could only be forced by the presidency,'' said Egyptian publisher and activist Hisham Kassem.

''There will be no internal repercussions because basically the presidency has decided not to take any action against him.

Parliament can stand on its head but they are not going to be able to do anything.'' The row Hosni sparked underlines deep tension between Islam and secularism in Egypt, which has seen a rise in religious conservatism in recent decades and where most Muslim women now wear headscarves in public.

''Women with their beautiful hair are like flowers that should not be covered and blocked from people,'' Hosni told an independent newspaper earlier this month. He later said the remarks were his personal views and not meant for publication.

Most Muslim clerics say wearing headscarves is obligatory for women but some Muslims dispute that view.

COMPETITION ON ISLAM The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's biggest opposition group, had demanded Hosni resign over his remarks, saying they were insulting to Egypt's top two Sunni Muslim clerics, the head of al-Azhar mosque and the mufti.

Later, members of Hosni's National Democratic Party joined the fray, which degenerated into name-calling in parliament.

Zakaria Azmi, President Hosni Mubarak's chief of staff, said Hosni should not have talked about religious matters.

Analysts said some NDP lawmakers may have taken a strategic decision to attack Hosni, worried they may lose ground to the Brotherhood.

''Some of them did it for tactical reasons, to show that the Muslim Brotherhood is not the only protector of Islam. So it was kind of a competition of who is more Islamic,'' said Abdel Monem Said of Egypt's Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.

But analysts said Mubarak would have been reluctant to drop Hosni because it would mean taking sides with his biggest political opponents, the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood is officially banned, but members elected as independents hold 88 seats in the 454-member parliament.

Hosni did promise to set up a cultural-religious committee to oversee ministry publications. Members of parliament will have a chance to question Hosni about his remarks on December 3.

REUTERS AKJ KP1016