Egypt TV presenter 'in first headscarf appearance'

A woman presenter has appeared on Egyptian state TV in an Islamic headscarf for what is believed to be first time since it started in 1960.

Fatima Nabil wore a cream-coloured headscarf as she read a news bulletin.

Under the regime of ex-President Hosni Mubarak there was an unofficial ban on women presenters covering their hair.

But the new Muslim Brotherhood-led government has introduced new rules, saying that nearly 70% of Egyptian women wear the headscarf.

Fatima Nabil appeared in the headscarf to read the mid-day news bulletin on Sunday.

The presenter later told the BBC: "At last the revolution has reached state television."

She is expected to be followed by other news and weather presenters similarly dressed.

New Information Minister Salah Abdel-Makshoud, a Brotherhood member, has pointed out that many women appearing on other Arab and international TV channels cover their hair.

Under Mubarak's regime, veiled women and those with headcoverings employed in the TV industry were given jobs away from the cameras.

Some of them sued against the unofficial ban on wearing headscarves on camera and won, but the former government ignored the court rulings, as it pursued a policy of wide opposition to the introduction of Islamic values, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo.