Sudan 'trouser' trial woman banned from travel

A Sudanese woman journalist who risks 40 lashes for wearing trousers said today that the authorities have banned her from traveling to Lebanon to take part in a talk show.

A Sudanese woman journalist who risks 40 lashes for wearing trousers said on Tuesday that the authorities have banned her from traveling to Lebanon to take part in a talk show.

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Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein told AFP she was due to leave overnight for Lebanon to tape a television show but that
police at the Khartoum airport prevented her from boarding her plane.

"They told me that due to a decision from August 7, I was banned from traveling abroad," Hussein said. "I asked them to show me a written document containing the decision but they were unable to do so."

Hussein, a widow in her 30s, was charged with public indecency under Sudan's Islamic law after she was arrested
last month along with 12 other women who were wearing trousers at a Khartoum restaurant.

Her trial has been adjourned to September 7 to determine whether Hussein, a journalist who works for a Sudanese
newspaper as well as with the United Nations press office in Khartoum, has legal immunity.

Hussein has said she wants to be tried to challenge a law that decrees a punishment of whipping for people wearing
"indecent" clothes, and told a hearing last week that she wished to waive her UN immunity.