Morocco's government said Wednesday it would set up a body including Muslim scholars to seek compromise on a controversial plan to give more rights to women.
The draft plan, unveiled last year, triggered a heated debate between liberal activists and Islamic fundamentalists who denounced it as a ticket to prostitution, said Reuters.
The plan puts the right to divorce in the hands of a judge rather than the husband.
Government spokesman Khalid Alioua, quoted by Reuters, said prime minister Abdel-Rahman Yousofi had ordered the creation of the panel "as soon as possible."
Morocco News Agency (MNA) said Wednesday that the special committee will be made up of government officials, sociologists, Muslim scholars and women's groups to discuss the integration of women in the Moroccan development plan.
According to (MNA), the committee will debate in the coming weeks details of the plan and reach a consensus over the controversial chapters before the government adopts it. It would later be presented to reformist King Mohammed for final approval.
Moroccan Islamists, quoted by Reuters, said the plan would discourage men from marriage, and would be against Islamic laws.
Last March, nearly half a million Islamists and their supporters took to the streets in Morocco's financial center of Casablanca to protest against the plan - (Agencies)
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