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Four other African states have announced restrictions on wearing the full-face veil[/caption]
Senegal plans to ban women from wearing the full-face Islamic veil in public in an attempt to curb jihadi activity, the interior minister has said.
The move should not be seen as anti-Islamic, as Senegal was a mainly Muslim state, Abdoulaye Daouda added. If the plan becomes law, Senegal will be the fifth African state to restrict the wearing of the full-face veil. In another move to target militants, all unregistered Sim cards are to be deactivated by the end of November. Last week, its President Macky Sall, a Muslim, called for a courageous fight against militant Islamists. Chad, Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville have announced similar bans, while Cameroon introduced it in July in its Far North region. All of them are former colonies of France, which caused an uproar in 2011 when it became the first European country to ban the full-face veil from being worn in public places. Chad and Cameroon have been targeted by suicide bombers, linked to the Nigeria-based Boko Haram group, whose militants sometimes wear the full-face veil as a cover to enter heavily populated areas. Senegal has not been attacked so far by militant Islamists. However, about two weeks ago officials said that at least two imams had been arrested for suspected links with militant groups, in the first such case reported in the country.