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Amal Soliman, Egypt's first woman able to conduct Muslim marriages, poses during an interview with AFP at her house in the town of Qanayat, 120 km northeast of Cairo, on March 2, 2008. Straddling the worlds of bureaucracy and religion -- two pillars of Egyptian society -- the 32-year old graduate in civil and criminal law said she is "more qualified" than her colleagues to perform the function of "maazun". Justice Minister Mamduh Mari stressed that Soliman's nomination depended on her abilities rather than on her gender, but it has raised eyebrows and anger on the streets in the male-dominated Arab country.
