Military

DATE=11/19/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-283334

TITLE=POWELL / AFGHAN WOMEN (L ONLY)

BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

VOICED AT:

INTRO: U-S Secretary of State Colin Powell says a new Afghan government must represent all of its society, including women. V-O-A's Scott Stearns reports, Mr. Powell's message is part of a wider campaign to ensure that women regain their roles in Afghan society after years of oppression under the Taleban.

TEXT: Secretary Powell says it is up to Afghans themselves to decide what sort of government they want to replace the Taleban. But whatever the form of that administration, Mr. Powell says that new government must include Afghan women.

/// POWELL ACT ///

It must respect the rights of Afghan women to choose how they will participate in their society. In every message that we have taken out to the new potential leaders of Afghanistan, we have emphasized the point that whatever comes after the Taleban must be broad-based, must include every element of Afghan society.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Powell said he will co-chair a meeting of donors Tuesday to plan the reconstruction of Afghan society, including rebuilding schools and hospitals, restoring agriculture and small-scale enterprises, and clearing mines from roads and bridges. In all of that work, he says, Afghan women must have the chance to participate.

The Secretary's focus on Afghan women follows a State Department report condemning their repression under Taleban rule. Opportunities for work outside the home were severely restricted. Mothers could be beaten for laughing out loud and jailed for educating their daughters past the age of eight.

First Lady Laura Bush used the President's Saturday radio address to condemn the Taleban as a "hard and repressive" regime where the plight of women and children was what she called "a matter of deliberate human cruelty, carried out by those who seek to intimidate and control."

Mrs. Bush said Taleban abuses against women were not a matter of religion. Muslims around the world have condemned Taleban repression, she says, because it is not representative of Islam in most countries where women make important contributions.

The wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair is also speaking out on behalf of Afghan women, urging them to regain their voice after years of Taleban oppression. In a meeting with Afghan women living in Britain Monday, Cherie Blair said Afghan women have a spirit that belies their downtrodden image, and that spirit needs to be freed. (SIGNED)

NEB/SS/MAR