US warlord policy in Afghanistan slammed

NEW YORK - The US policy of engaging Afghan warlords to hunt down al Qaeda members is undermining the recovery of the devastated country, said a prominent Afghan editor who helped draft the new constitution.

Shukria Barakzai, 33, in New York to receive the Worldpress.org's 2004 International Editor of the Year award at the United Nations, made clear her gratitude for the 2001 US-led invasion, which ended many limitations on women.

However, for all the progress since the fall of the fundamentalist Taleban leaders, Barakzai said the new liberties were threatened by the increasing use of warlords to hunt al Qaeda and Taleban insurgents in the south.

"We still live in the middle of a warlords' war that is becoming worse, and more women and children are becoming victims of different groups," Barakzai said.

Warlords, militant tribal leaders whose struggle for territorial power has long obstructed efforts to unite the mountainous and impoverished state, had gained more power, creating increased danger, she said.

US President George Bush has touted advances in women's rights as a major accomplishment that followed from the invasion. However, many, including President Hamid Karzai, warn of the threat that the warlords still pose to democratic reforms.

Barakzai's comments echoed those of rights groups who are concerned that the country could slide back.

"Warlords and armed factions still dominate many parts of the country and routinely abuse human rights, especially the rights of women and girls," Brad Adams, the Asia director of the US-based Human Rights Watch group, said last month.

The United States, which has about 17,000 troops in the country, is focused mainly on eliminating elements of al Qaeda, which took refuge in Afghanistan during the Taleban rule.

Barakzai, who ran a school for girls in her home during the Taleban domination, early in 2002 launched "Aina-E-Zan" or "Women's Mirror," which aims at increasing Afghan women's awareness of political, social and cultural issues.

The newspaper, which circulates 3000 copies per week in 12 provinces and is written only by women, was the target of a bomb attack which Barakzai believes involved warlords.

In the last nine months she has been a member of the Constitutional Reviewing Commission, is preparing to run in parliamentary elections on September 18 and will be accompanying Karzai to the United States for a state visit in late May,

- REUTERS