AFGHANISTAN:Talking to the Taliban Bad for Women

The first woman to run for president of Afghanistan, Moussada Jalal, told Canadians on Tuesday that engaging the Taliban in a bid to end an eight-year-old war would set back women's rights.

Peace talks with the Taliban is "bad news for women in Afghanistan," Jalal, a former minister of women's affairs, told reporters. "I hope it doesn't happen."

Delegates at a landmark conference aimed at bringing an end to Afghanistan's long war said last week that talking to the Taliban is the country's best, and possibly last, chance for peace.

Around 1,600 delegates, representing Afghans across the political and social spectrum, attended the so-called peace jirga held in a massive tent in Kabul's southeastern suburbs.

Jalal heads up the Jalal Foundation, which seeks to promote, empower, educate and inform Afghan women.

She was in Ottawa to testify before the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Human Rights and Development and to meet with parliamentarians, women?s rights groups and non-governmental organizations.

She said at a press conference, "In the beginning, women were hopeful about changes in Afghanistan (affecting women). But in recent years we've experienced some steps back."

NATO allies funded the construction of schools for girls, for example, but insurgents killed the teachers and female students were marked with acid to discourage them from attending school.

As well, she said the Taliban has been "terrorizing women activists" while religious councils decreed women cannot leave their homes without a male escort.

The main obstacle to solidly establishing women's rights in Afghanistan, Jalal opined, is the old guard's economic and political clout. For warlords, she said, "political power has become a business."

Women have "knowledge, experience and political consciousness... but they cannot compete within this power circle because they don't have enormous economic power in their hands."

She urged the international community, including Canada, to remain committed to Afghanistan, and help promote and protect women's rights.

"Afghanistan is sick, very sick, it cannot stand on its feet, it needs treatment, it needs help," she told reporters.

Photo: AFP