April 2009
13 posts
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Apr 29th
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Apr 29th
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Apr 29th
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Apr 29th
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Women protesting at 'pro-rape' law attacked by... →
The Independent Hamid Karzai’s repressive new legislation provoked violent scenes in Kabul yesterday. Jerome Starkey witnessed the anger: Women marching against new legislation which effectively legalises rape met violent opposition from an opposing mob in Kabul yesterday. Dozens of riot police, backed by more than 50 elite counter-terrorism officers, struggled to keep the groups apart...
Apr 15th
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Men launch attack on female protesters →
The Scotsman By Jerome Starkey in Kabul POLICE opened fire as hordes of male protesters charged at women demonstrating in Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday over new legislation which critics claim legalises rape. Dozens of riot police backed by more than 50 elite counter-terrorism officers struggled to keep the groups apart. At one point the women were pelted with stones, while at a separate...
Apr 15th
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Apr 14th
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Young couple executed as Taliban tightens grip →
The Independent By Jerome Starkey in Kabul Bound and blindfolded, a young couple were shot at close range in southern Afghanistan – for daring to elope. Abdul Aziz was 21 years old. The girl he ran off with was just 19. Her name, Gul Pecha, means flower. Officials said the pair were tried by a Taliban court, found guilty of “immoral acts” and sentenced to death. The Taliban...
Apr 14th
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Campaigner shot outside her home in Afghanistan →
The Scotsman By Jerome Starkey in Kabul TALEBAN gunmen murdered one of Afghanistan’s leading female rights activists yesterday as she stood on the pavement outside her home. Two men on a motorbike shot Sitara Achakzai at close range, by her home in the southern city of Kandahar. Officials said the attack happened in broad daylight. The Taleban, who offer 200,000 Pakistani rupees...
Apr 12th
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Taliban murder leading Afghan female rights... →
The Independent By Jerome Starkey, in Kabul Taliban gunmen murdered one of Afghanistan’s leading female rights activists yesterday, as she stood outside her home. In the latest blow against women’s rights, two men on a motorbike shot Sitara Achakzai in the southern city of Kandahar. Officials said the attack happened in broad daylight. The Taliban have claimed responsibility. Friends said Mrs...
Apr 12th
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Apr 5th
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Karzai fights back as storm grows over rape laws →
The Independent By Jerome Starkey in Kabul As Afghanistan’s president grappled with some serious damage limitation yesterday over an incoming law that legalises rape, a student jailed for trying to improve women’s rights issued a defiant message of hope: that one day both sexes might be equal in his country. Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, who was accused of blasphemy and sentenced to...
Apr 5th
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Taliban in policy shift on beards and burqas →
The Independent By Kim Sengupta and Jerome Starkey in Kabul The Taliban, whose extreme interpretation of Sharia law and its harsh punishments made Afghanistan one of world’s most repressive and reviled regimes, have agreed to soften their position on such things as beards and burqas as part of a trade-off in negotiations with the Afghan government. Afghanistan is increasingly the focus...
Apr 1st