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TITLE: Curbs On States Fueling Afghan War Demanded |
AUTHOR: |
PUB: DAWN |
DATE: April 28, 2001 |
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Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (Rawa) on Friday called for international sanctions on countries providing financial and military assistance to belligerent sides in Afghanistan. "We call upon the UN to impose sanctions on countries which provide financial and military help to the Taliban as well as the Northern Opposition Alliance. This is essential for bringing lasting and durable peace in Afghanistan," RAWA activist, Saima Karim, told a news conference here. She said RAWA had planned to hold a march to mark the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on April 27 and the accession to power of 'fundamentalist' mujahideen in Kabul on April 28, but could not do so due to refusal of permission from the district administration in Peshawar. "We wanted to show it to the world that the Afghan women are not oblivious to what is happening in their country," she said. The women of Afghanistan, she said, wanted to ask the international community why their country had been turned into ruins and a terrorist base, producer and distributor of drugs in the world. She said that continued ravages of war in Afghanistan had brought depression to most of its population, particularly women. "Afghanistan is not a normal country," she said. She warned the international community, particularly the European Union, not to support the groups who had brought destruction to Afghanistan. She said the EU should not forget the miseries brought to the Afghans between 1992 and 1996. She was equally critical of the Taliban and warned that fundamentalism could spread in the whole region. "Even Islamabad and Karachi would not be able to escape. There are already signs emerging of this phenomenon," she warned. She said that RAWA had welcomed Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf's statement regarding the need for a representative government in Afghanistan but regretted that nothing had been done to achieve that objective. Saima said that RAWA believed that sanctions on ruling Taliban were one-sided and that similar sanctions should have been imposed on the Northern Alliance. The report of RAWA press conference and cancellation of the demonstration due to pressure by Pakistani police was also published in all Urdu and Pushto newspapers of Pakistan. Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) Mailing Address: RAWA, P.O.Box 374, Quetta, Pakistan Mobile: 0092-300-8551638 Fax: 001-760-2819855 E-mails: rawa@rawa.org, rawa@iname.com END |