SUDANESE 'TROUSERS' WOMAN FINED !

A Sudanese woman charged with dressing indecently for wearing trousers has been fined but spared being lashed.

A court in Khartoum ordered Lubna Hussein to pay the equivalent of about $200 (£122), warning she would be jailed for a month if she refused.

Ms Hussein, a journalist in her 30s, had also faced up to 40 lashes.

She had quit her UN job, which would have given her immunity, saying she wanted her trial to become a test case for women's rights, correspondents say.

The announcement of the fine for Ms Hussein came shortly after the trial resumed on Monday.

Earlier, at least 40 protesters were held by police outside the courthouse in the Sudanese capital.

Some of them were women reportedly wearing trousers in support for Ms Hussein.

All the protesters were later released on bail.

Ms Hussein was arrested in July together with 12 other women who were wearing trousers.

During the trial she had argued she did nothing wrong under Sudan's indecency law.

BBC NEWS REPORT.