MP Ghada Ajam has submitted a bill in the Egyptian parliament calling for a fine of 1,000 Egyptian pounds (£42) for women who defy the proposed ban, it was reported.
She said the purpose of the bill is “to support the state’s efforts in fighting terrorism”, the Media Line news website reported her as saying,
A copy of the draft bill obtained by The Media Line says the burqa would be prohibited in Egyptian public spaces “at any time and under any circumstances”.
These would include hospitals, health clinics, schools, cinemas, theatres, public libraries, museums, and government buildings.
Political analyst Ahmad Sharbini said the through a period of instability because of radical Islamic groups operating within the country and public safety was “more important than anything”.
He claimed “many male and female terrorists use [the burqa] to hide their identities or sneak into places” and any ban would not infringe “freedoms or go against religions”.
“We refuse radical ideologies in general, and when it comes to Islamic law, women are not obligated to cover their faces, though it has become a tradition in some Muslim countries,” he said.
The Egyptian government has been fighting Islamic extremism for decades and in recent years the battle has been concentrated in Sinai peninsula, an area popular with tourists.
Hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed by Islamic State militants in the Sinai peninsula since 2013.
The jihadis have also killed dozens of people in attacks targeting Egypt's Coptic Christian minority elsewhere in the country.
On Halloween 2015 in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh an IS terror attack in 2015 killed all 224 people on board a Russian passenger jet, decimating the tourist trade there.
After a sharp drop in the number of Brits visiting there, bookings have spiked recently.
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