Nov 23, 2006, 15:53 GMT
Islamabad - A controversial bill on protecting women's rights was approved by the upper house of Pakistan's parliament Thursday, clearing the way for President General Pervez Musharraf to sign it into law.
After weathering fierce opposition from Islamist legislators in recent weeks, the Protection of Women Bill won majority approval in the Senate, which disregarded demands for amendments by members of the opposition.
The bill was first passed last week by Pakistan's National Assembly lower house. Members of the six-party Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Islamic alliance that rules two of the country's four provinces boycotted the November 15 vote, denouncing it as being repugnant to the teachings of Islam.
The bill amends provisions in the criminal laws considered oppressive to woman victims of rape and other sex crimes, but was condemned by some legislators as a conspiracy to turn Pakistan into a 'free-sex zone.'
In the heated debate about the bill, some liberal parties represented in the assembly also withheld support for its introduction because of their dislike of Musharraf, who assumed power in a military coup in 1999.
In what was seen as a step to appease the Islamists, the government party incorporated a key amendment sought by the MMA that makes sex between a consenting man and woman not married to each other a crime punishable with a fine and five years in jail. Anyone falsely accusing a couple of fornication would face prosecution.
Rights activists and the United States and other foreign governments had been pressuring Musharraf's government to reform, if not revoke, the Islamic Hudood laws introduced by former military dictator Zia ul-Haq in 1979. Aimed at containing sex crimes and murders, the laws were considered oppressive to women.
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