Sudan woman in Legal Limbo over Refusal to Cover Hair 

A Sudanese woman who refuses to cover her hair has been in legal limbo after a court appearance on Monday. The woman, Amira Osman Hamed is said to face a possible whipping if convicted of violating Sudan's laws governing morality.

The prosecution is still weighing how to proceed on the issue after the defence had requested that the charge be withdrawn. The court is now waiting for the prosecutor to either send the file back to court for additional hearings, or to quash the case, said Amira Osman Hamed. New date has not been set for a further hearing, but one of her lawyers,Kamal Omar, has said that "this does not mean the case is over".

Although, Sudanese law states that all women are supposed to cover their hair with a "hijab" but Hamed refuses, saying authorities "want us to be like Taliban women."Her case has now attracted international publicity and drawn support from rights activists.She said she was charged after refusing a policeman's order to cover her head while visiting a government office in Jebel Aulia in late August.

Similar case of journalist in 2009, Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein led to a global outcry and spotlighted women's rights in Sudan. Hussein was fined for wearing slacks in public but she refused to pay. She spent one day behind bars but others rounded up with her in a restaurant were flogged.