DATE=7/10/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=AFGHAN / AMERICAN ARREST (L)
NUMBER=2-264253
BYLINE=SCOTT ANGER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: An American woman working for a non-
governmental organization in Afghanistan has been
arrested by Taleban authorities in the capital, Kabul.
As correspondent Scott Anger reports, the arrest
follows a recent order by the Taleban that prohibits
N-G-O's from hiring female Afghan workers.
TEXT: The head of the non-governmental organization
PARSA, Mary MacMakin, has been arrested and is being
held with seven other women by Taleban authorities.
Eight male Afghan staff workers who were arrested with
her have been released.
Taleban authorities have given no reason for the
actions.
The arrests follow a Taleban announcement last week
that Afghan women will no longer be allowed to work
for non-governmental agencies. Members of the Vice
and Virtue squad, which patrols the streets of Kabul
to enforce the strict Islamic laws imposed by the
Taleban, raided the organization's office Sunday.
When the hard-line Islamic movement first took power
four-years ago, they banned women from working and
receiving an education. But in 1998, they agreed to
allow women to work in health and education fields.
The world community has been critical of these strict
Taleban policies, which it says are in violation of
basic human rights.
PARSA, an agency started in 1996, helps Afghan women,
particularly widows from the country's ongoing civil
war, earn a living through weaving and embroidery.
The agency has Afghan women employed on its staff for
the purpose of training women in need.
U-S officials in Pakistan say they have asked the
United Nations to visit Ms. MacMakin, who is 71 and is
being held in a detention facility in the Afghan
capital. (SIGNED)
NEB/SA/AG/RAE
10-Jul-2000 09:35 AM EDT (10-Jul-2000 1335 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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