Chechnya’s Islamic prime minister Ramzan Kadyrov has been pushing the government in the direction of shari’a, and now they are demanding that women wear headscarves. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)

GROZNY, Russia, March 10 (Reuters) - The pro-Moscow Chechen government has started to demand that female state workers wear headscarves, women in the turbulent Muslim region said on Friday.

“I received a verbal warning that if I did not wear a headscarf, I would lose my job. I had to wear it the next day so as not to bring trouble on my head,” said one woman who works in the regional administration and asked not to be named.

A spokesman for the region’s new prime minister, Ramzan Kadyrov, who has pushed through a series of Islamic decrees, denied the headscarves were compulsory and said women were merely encouraged to cover their hair. …

“We want to return to the culture and beautiful traditions of the Chechen people. The headscarf is just part of this,” said a spokesman for Kadyrov.

Analysts say Kadyrov may be pushing through Islamic decrees to try to steal support from the rebels, although his officials say he is simply doing his duty as a Muslim.