Yemeni cleric campaigns against child brides ban

Yemen's most influential Islamic cleric is vowing to gather a "million" signatures to protest against a draft law banning child brides in the country.

Sheik Abdul-Majid Al Zindani spoke yesterday at a conference in the Yemeni capital, San'a. Proposed legislation to set a minimum marriage age of 17 has been stalled by opposition from religious leaders who say it is un-Islamic. A quarter of all females marry before they turn 15 in Yemen. This month, a 13-year-old bride bled to death after her 23-year-old husband forced her to have sex.

The radical cleric says if the law is passed, he will gather a million signatures to demand that it be repealed.

If that does not work, he promises to organise mass protests.