Egypt’s new” first lady” refuses title

The wife of Egypt’s new president refuses to be called the Arab country’s “first lady”, saying she is only Egypt’s “first female servant”.

“There is nothing called Egypt’s first lady…there is something called Egypt’s first female servant because we are all citizens with the same rights and same duties,” Najla Mahmoud said, quoted by the Egyptian press.

“I also can be called Umm Ahmed, or Ukht (sister) Najla or Haja (pilgrim)…Islam does not distinguish between a woman and another or between a man and another…we are all Egyptians united for the sake of our nation.”

Newspapers said Najla, wearing a scarf round her head, is the first veiled wife of a president in the most populous Arab nation.

Her husband, Mohammed Mursi, won Egypt’s presidential election last week to become the country’s first Islamist head of state.

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