Cairo, 6 Nov. (AKI) - Female presenters will no longer appear on Egypt's state television channel wearing the Muslim veil, according to the head of the public station, al-Masriya. Osama al-Sheikh said: "You will not see any veiled female TV presenters on air on the screens of Egypt's state TV any more."

The channel's director made the remarks during a seminar at the faculty of science and communications at Cairo University, according to a report in Egyptian magazine al-Youm al-Saba.

"It is part of our society's culture to show hair. Now I am not saying it is a bad thing to wear the veil, but because this is state TV, everything that is seen must be official," he said.

"The TV presenters who are veiled will be able to continue to work in private satellite TV stations," he said.

His remarks provoked uproar in the Egyptian parliament by members who are close to the banned Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement.

"The director of the TV station should be bound by the laws of the state when he makes decisions, however his words seem to be based on customary practices. The courts have already reaffirmed the legitimacy of veiled presenters to appear on TV," said Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood MP Muhsin Radi.

The Muslim Brotherhood organisation, founded in 1928, was officially banned in 1954.

Using sympathisers running as independents, the group won one-fifth of seats in Egypt's 2005 parliamentary elections.