Taliban announces 'amnesty', urges women to join govt

Ground Report | New Delhi: Taliban announces 'amnesty'; The Taliban announced an "apology" in Afghanistan and urged women to join their government on Tuesday, trying to convince a wary population that they had changed a day after Deadly mobs surrounded the main airport as desperate mobs tried to flee the country.

After a spate of attacks across Afghanistan in which many cities fell to rebels without a fight, the Taliban sought to portray themselves as more moderate than the one that imposed a brutal regime in the late 1990s.

Older generations remember the Taliban's ultra-Orthodox Islamic views, which included stoning, amputations, and public executions, along with severe sanctions on women, before being ousted by the US-led invasion following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

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The promise of an apology to Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban's Cultural Commission, was the first comment on the Taliban's ruling at the national level. His remarks, however, remained unclear, as the Taliban are still in talks with political leaders of the country's fallen government and no formal handover deal has been announced.

Taliban announces 'amnesty'

"The Islamic Emirate does not want women to suffer," said Samangani, using the names of terrorists for Afghanistan. "They should be in the government structure according to Sharia law." This would be a marked departure from the last time the Taliban came to power when women were largely confined to their homes. (Taliban announces 'amnesty)

Samangani did not describe exactly what he meant by Sharia, or Islamic, law, meaning that people already knew the rules the Taliban expected them to follow. He said that "all parties must join a government".

It was also unclear what he meant by the apology, although other Taliban leaders have said they will not take revenge on those who have worked with the Afghan government or foreign countries. But some in Kabul allege that Taliban fighters have lists of people who cooperated with the government and are looking for them.

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Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted both the Taliban's pledges and their fears now under their rule.

"Such promises will need to be respected, and for the time being - again understandably, given past history - these announcements have been greeted with some skepticism," he said in a statement. "Nevertheless, promises have been made, and whether they have been honored or not will be closely examined."

He added: "The past two decades have seen many difficult victories in human rights. The rights of all Afghans must be protected."

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