Supporters of the niqab (face veil) have won the latest round in their long-running battle with the Egyptian authorities.

Yesterday, the Administrative Court annulled a decree by the education minister that banned students wearing the niqab from entering dormitories at Cairo's Ain Shams University.

It found the ban unconstitutional on the grounds that weaing niqab is a "personal freedom" so long as it does not threaten public order.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 21 December 2009.