Taliban team at Qatar talks to include women

[ahlam1399]

KABUL: Women will be included for the first time in the Taliban delegation for talks this month with US officials and Afghan representatives in Qatar over the future of Afghanistan, the movement’s main spokesman said on Monday.For a group notorious for its strictly conservative attitude to women’s rights, the move represents a step towards addressing demands that women be included in the talks, aimed at bringing an end to more than 17 years of war in Afghanistan. “There will be women among Taliban delegation members in the Doha, Qatar meeting,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s main spokesman, said by telephone.He did not name the women, but added, “These women have no family relationship with the senior members of the Taliban, they are normal Afghans, from inside and outside the country, who have been supporters and part of the struggle of the Islamic Emirate”.The April 19-21 meeting in Doha will be the latest in a series of talks between Taliban and US officials and is also expected to include a 150-strong delegation of Afghan politicians and civil society figures.The Taliban have maintained their rejection of formal talks with the Afghan government which they dismiss as a “puppet” regime controlled by the United States. While Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative country, especially in rural areas, there have been major advances in women’s rights since the US-led campaign of 2001 that toppled the Taliban government. Many women fear that if the group regains some power, many of these gains could be erased.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/ljDYPW6_m4k

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