CAIRO, Nov 20: Egytian Culture Minister Faruq Hosni is to face questioning by members of parliament after he described the wearing of the veil as regressive, the speaker said on Monday.

Mr Hosni is to be summoned to appear before a ‘joint session of the religious affairs and culture committees’, speaker Fathi Surur said.

“A letter will be sent to the minister of culture calling on him to appear in front of the joint session which will convene as soon as possible,” Mr Surur said.

In an interview published on Thursday, Mr Hosni said that the ever-growing number of Muslim women wearing the veil in Egypt was regressive.

“There was an age when our mothers went to university and worked without the veil. It is in that spirit that we grew up. So why this regression?,” the minister said in an interview with the independent daily Al-Masri Al-Yom.

The comments provoked a storm of protest, not only among the Islamist opposition but also within the ruling National Democratic Party.

Minister of state for parliamentary and legal affairs Mufid Shehab insisted that Mr Hosni's opinions were his alone and did not reflect those of the government.

“These statements reflect the opinion of the minister and not those of the government,” he said. “The Egyptian government respects Islam and the veil.” But the minister's assurances failed to satisfy the speaker, who is also a member of the ruling party.

“The minister is responsible for his statements,” Mr Surur said.—AFP