NATO chief pledges to uphold Afghan women's rights
NATO will support a political deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban only if it respects the constitutional rights of women, the alliance's secretary-general said on Friday. "The Afghan government is trying hard to engage with those Taliban who are willing to stop fighting," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a speech to a conference on women and security.
"My position, and the position of all the allies, is very clear: we will never support any political deal that sacrifices the rights that Afghan women now have enshrined in the constitution," Rasmussen said.He said it was a good sign that women are serving on the council formed to manage the reconciliation process. "In a country as deeply conservative as Afghanistan, that is real progress," Rasmussen said. (Reuters)
