Two Muslim women were prohibited from sitting behind the podium at Barack Obama's Monday rally in Detroit, apparently so their headscarves would not appear in photographs with him, according to a report Wednesday in the Politico.com.

The Washington-based Web site reported that Obama campaign volunteers said the women could not wear the hijabs behind the candidate, though they gave different reasons for the rule.

One volunteer said that one of the women could not be seen on TV with Obama "because of the political climate and what's going on in the world and what's going on with Muslim Americans," according to the Muslim woman's friend.

The other volunteer gave a less political explanation to the other woman, according to the article, claiming nobody with any kind of headpiece could sit behind the stage.

Both women said they were disappointed by the treatment they received at the rally, and the Obama campaign later apologized, according to The Politico.

"This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run. We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.

The Obama campaign has battled questions about his patriotism and persistent rumors that the presumptive Democratic nominee is a secret Muslim. The campaign set up a Web site last week to debunk such rumors.

Click here to read about the Muslim women at Obama's rally in The Politico.com.