Algeria's President Abd al-Aziz Butaflika has extended his support to a bill aimed at improving women's rights, despite opposition from Islamic parties. A change to a 1984 law plans to ban men from divorcing their wives for no reason and give women access to financial support from their former husbands, an official statement said on Tuesday. It would scrap the need for women to ask permission from a male family member to marry, and polygamy would need to be approved by a magistrate. Politicians say the reform law will expectedly be approved shortly by parliament since Butaflika has the backing of the majority in both houses.