Egypt's Culture Minister Faruq Hosni who caused a furore by saying that wearing the veil was a backward trend, returned to work Sunday after a week-long seclusion at home, his office said.
Hosni's decision to return to work came after a meeting with the minister of state for parliamentary affairs Mufid Shehab aimed at calming the storm caused by his comments, the state-owned Al-Gomhouria daily reported.
In an interview published this month, Hosni said he saw the ever-growing number of Muslim women wearing the veil in Egypt as a negative trend.
"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?" he asked.
"Each woman with her beautiful hair is like a flower, and should not be concealed from the view of others," Hosni added, arguing that "religion today focuses on appearances too much".
His comments sparked a nation-wide outrage which escalated into a fully fledged crisis.
In parliament, angry MPs from Hosni's own National Democratic Party (NDP) outnumbered those from the Muslim Brotherhood, which had been the first to chastise the minister for his criticism of the Islamic veil. On Tuesday, Hosni told AFP he would not leave his house until his "honour is restored by the Assembly."
Support for the beleaguered minister came from an unexpected source when some of Egypt's most prominent intellectuals - who have been critical of Hosni's actions as culture minister - denounced what they perceived as "cultural terrorism".
Hosni, who has repeatedly insisted that his comments were his personal opinion and did not represent the view of the government, is still to face questioning by a parliamentary commission.
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