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Michelle and Barack Obama visited Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to pay their respects following the death of King Abdullah
Saudi
Arabia imposes a strict interpretation of Islamic law, forbidding women
to work or travel without the authorisation of their male guardians.
It
is also the only country in the world that bans women from driving, and
a woman cannot obtain an identification card without the consent of her
guardian. Floggings and death sentences are also commonplace.
Mrs
Obama was pictured grimacing several times during the four-hour visit,
which saw some members of the all-male Saudi delegation shake her hand,
while others simply nodded at her as they passed by.
Mrs
Obama chose not to cover her head during the visit, which is often
standard for Western women visiting the kingdom, though forbidden for
Saudi women
Earlier that day, her husband had spoken at length
about the importance of women’s rights during an address in India,
setting up a jarring contrast with his warm embrace of Saudi Arabia.
On
Twitter, some used hashtags to criticize Mrs Obama for being
disrespectful of Saudi traditions, translating as
#Michelle_Obama_Immodest and #Michelle_Obama_NotVeiled, Politico
reports.
It was noted some of the all-male Saudi delegation chose not to shake Mrs Obama’s hand
It
had been reported that a Saudi television station had blurred Mrs
Obama’s face in footage of the meeting, but that has been denied by
Saudi officials, Bloomberg View reports.
Some social media
users posted screenshots apparently showing the First Lady obscured,
though others reported seeing the same meeting without the pixellation.
Obama,
like his recent predecessors, defended his willingness to forge close
ties with the kingdom despite its array of human rights issues.
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