First Lady Michelle Obama left many in Saudi Arabia upset as she did not wear a veil. Grim-faced she met the new king as many members of his entourage refused to shake her hand.
POTUS cut short his much-hyped India visit to pay respect to Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah. He swapped the magnificent Taj Mahal for the conservative kingdom. And Mrs O is clearly not impressed. (Don’t miss her grim face!)
First Lady Michelle Obama landed in Saudi Arabia wearing loose clothing, but chose not to wear the headscarf.
Under the strict dress code in Saudi Arabia, women are required to wear a headscarf and loose black robes -- the niqab -- in public. Though this diktat does not apply to foreigners Michelle earned criticism on Twitter.
There were more than 1,500 tweets with a hashtag in Arabic that translates roughly to #MichelleObamaunveiled, reports The Washington Post. Some pointed out she wore a headscarf during her visit to Indonesia then why not Saudi Arabia? She even donned a black veil when she met the Pope in Vatican.
Amid the controversy, reports emerged that Saudi’s state television had blurred out the first lady as her husband US President Barack Obama met new Saudi King Salman. Video clips on YouTube showed that the Saudi Arabia state television had blurred out Mrs Obama.
But the Saudi embassy clarified a tweet, "Report by Bloomberg View's Josh Rogin that Saudi TV "blurred" image of First Lady Michelle Obama is FALSE. Should check facts, not Facebook."
Michelle was not impressed and she had yet another reason. As the Obamas stepped out of Air Force one in Riyadh was greeted by the new king and his all male delegates. While some shook hands with her, others acknowledged her with just a nod avoiding a handshake.
Saudi Arabia’s laws strictly segregate genders not allowing men and women to mingle in public. According to the guardianship laws, women are required to get permission from a male relative to travel, get married, enroll in higher education or undergo certain surgical procedures.
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