UK - Tony Blair calls the veil a “mark of separation”

Here's the video.

And Egypt backs him.

"There is a significant difference between the hijab, a simple veil which frames the face, and the niqab, which leaves only the eyes visible" she added. "The first is a religious duty, but the second is a sheer cultural convention, which has no raison d'etre in Islamic sources" she said.

It's a political statement by Muslim militants.