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‘Islam doesn’t allow them to be seen like this’: Taliban official says
‘not necessary’ for Afghan women to play sports
8 Sep, 2021 18:26
take part in a training session in Kabul. © AFP
The Taliban government has suggested that it is "not necessary" for women to play sports in their new regime, including cricket, per a statement from the deputy head of the Taliban’s cultural commission.
So, now, the question is, is it necessary for men to play sports?
Speaking to Australian broadcaster SBS, Ahmadullah Wasiq suggested that it would be inappropriate for women to take part in sporting activities under the new Taliban government in place following the fall of Kabul on August 15.
Wasiq stated that the women's cricket team will not be "allowed" in a ban which is expected to extend towards all women's sports.
"I don't think women will be allowed to play cricket because it is not necessary that women should play cricket," Wasiq said.
"In cricket, they might face a situation where their face and body will not be covered. Islam does not allow women to be seen like this.
"It is the media era, and there will be photos and videos, and then people watch it. Islam and the Islamic Emirate [Afghanistan] do not allow women to play cricket or play the kind of sports where they get exposed."
So, it just doesn't fit with a first-millennium culture where women must be invisible in public.
The dictum from the Taliban leadership appears to contradict prior statements made by the group following the offensive last month which saw them seize control of the country in which they stated that women's rights would be secured in the country under their rule.
However, an interim Taliban government which began work on Wednesday contains figures thought to be loyalist hardliners – with not a single woman among them in spite of promises from the group to form an inclusive administration.
Cricket is by a distance the most popular sport in Afghanistan and has significant support within the country, regularly being featured on domestic television and among the most participated-in activities in the region.
Last November, the Afghanistan Cricket Board awarded 25 female players with central contracts as they sought to form a team to compete in International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments – and in April of this year the ICC gave permanent test and one day international (ODI) status to women's teams in Afghanistan.
The EU, meanwhile, has railed against the Taliban leadership, criticizing them for the lack of inclusion apparent in their early moves in power.
"Upon initial analysis of the names announced (in the Taliban government), it does not look like the inclusive and representative formation in terms of the rich ethnic and religious diversity of Afghanistan we hoped to see and that the Taliban were promising over the past weeks," they said in a statement.
These calls are now likely to grow louder amid the newly-announced stance on women's sports.
The Afghanistan cricket board say that they have not yet been informed of any policy changes related to women's cricket – but the program for female players is currently suspended.
Dozens of sportswomen, including cricketers are either in hiding in the country or have fled altogether in the weeks since the Taliban takeover.
Last month it was reported that a plane carrying 75 female football players, officials and relatives had left the country for Australia after the country opened its doors in response to calls from athlete advocates and human rights lawyers.
Denmark says female migrants from ‘non-western’ backgrounds
must do work to get government benefits
8 Sep, 2021 16:41
Danish Prime minister Mette Frederiksen has said some migrant workers will be required by the state to work 37 hours a week to receive welfare benefits, with the rules apparently aimed at women from non-western backgrounds.
Frederiksen said the new rules are to help migrants assimilate into Danish society, but they are also in line with the country’s pursuit to reduce asylum-seeker applications to zero.
The new restrictions will be imposed on those who have been receiving welfare benefits from the Danish government for three to four years, but who haven’t achieved a certain level of proficiency in Danish.
"For too many years we have done a disservice to a lot of people by not demanding anything of them," said the PM, who added that the rules were particularly aimed at women living on the benefits, who weren’t working and were from “non-western” backgrounds.
The Danish government says six out of 10 women from Turkey, North Africa and the Middle East are not employed.
"It is basically a problem when we have such a strong economy, where the business community demands labor, that we then have a large group, primarily women with non-Western backgrounds, who are not part of the labor market," Frederiksen said.
Despite often being thought of as a migrant-friendly, ‘Nordic socialist’ country, Denmark has one of the toughest stances on immigration within the EU.
In June, it passed a law by a 70-24 vote, allowing it to deport asylum seekers and process applications while they are outside of the country.
Last week, Denmark’s former immigration minister Inger Stojberg went on trial in the country’s rarely-used Impeachment Court. The “hardline” ex-minister was accused of illegally separating asylum-seeker couples in which wives were underage.
How can it be illegal to separate them when it is illegal to have a child as a wife?
Responding to the government plan on Wednesday, Mai Villadsen, a spokeswoman for the left-wing Red Green Alliance, told TV2 she feared the new rule could end up as “state-supported social dumping” that was “sending people into crazy jobs.”
Last surviving Bataclan terrorist suspect goes on trial for
murder of 130, one of 20 charged over 2015 Paris attack
8 Sep, 2021 12:50
A 31-year-old French-Moroccan, thought to be the last surviving member of a group of gunmen that killed 130 people and wounded many more during the 2015 Paris attacks, has arrived at court for his long-awaited trial.
On Wednesday, Salah Abdeslam, a Belgium-born French-Moroccan, arrived at a Paris court as one of 20 men on trial for their involvement in the 2015 rampage that killed 130. There was a sizable police presence around the Palais de Justice courthouse in central Paris for his arrival.
Abdeslam is believed to be the last surviving gunman from November 13, 2015, when jihadists conducted a coordinated attack on six bars and restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and a sports stadium. The 31-year-old, who arrived at the courtroom dressed all in black and with a black face mask, proceeded to tell those present that he was a soldier of the Islamic State. The Islamist terrorist group claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.
Abdeslam was arrested in the Brussels district of Molenbeek in March 2016, having fled the scene of the Paris attack. It was understood from a note written by the suspect, found on a laptop hardrive, that he'd intended to die in 2015 alongside his "brothers." His suicide vest failed to detonate.
And, of course, he didn't have an extra bullet!
Abdeslam reportedly remained silent during the investigation and failed to cooperate with the authorities. Of the remaining defendants, 11 are already in jail pending trial and six will be tried in absentia – most of them are believed dead.
Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti has described the trial, which will last nine months and involve around 1,800 plaintiffs and more than 300 lawyers, as an unprecedented judicial marathon.
The events of November 13, 2015, are some of the bloodiest in modern French history and started when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Stade de France where some 80,000 were watching a football match.
It was followed by drive-by shootings and suicide bombings across the 10th and 11th arrondissements, while 89 more people died when the jihadist stormed the Bataclan concert venue.
Four Guantanamo inmates swapped for ‘deserter’ Bowe
Bergdahl named as ministers in Taliban government
8 Sep, 2021 12:38
Abdul Haq Wasiq (L), Norullah Noori, Mohammad Fazl, Khairullah Khairkhwa. © Wikipedia
Four former Guantanamo inmates, released as part of a swap for court-martialed soldier Bowe Bergdahl, have been named as high-ranking acting ministers in the Taliban’s new Afghan government.
On Tuesday, the Taliban announced its first interim government for the war-torn nation, which is now under the group’s control. However, many of those named in the government are known to the US and its allies, but not for good reasons. Four of those announced as ministers were previous inmates at the US high-security facility in Guantanamo Bay.
All four were traded for captured soldier Bowe Bergdahl in 2014 by the administration of former US President Barack Obama. The fifth Taliban member swapped for Bergdahl has been a prominent figure since the militant group’s takeover of Afghanistan but does not feature in the interim government.
As reported by Afghanistan’s ToloNews on Tuesday, Abdul Haq Wasiq is now acting director of intelligence; Mullah Noorullah Noori is acting minister of borders and tribal affairs; Mullah Mohammad Fazil is deputy defense minister; and Mullah Khairullah Khairkhah has been named acting minister of information and culture.
All four, who were deemed dangerous hardliners by the US government, took part in direct talks with Washington in Doha last year. Information and US defense documents made available by WikiLeaks and other organizations demonstrate why the US was so concerned by these individuals.
According to the Guantanamo Files, published by WikiLeaks, Wasiq was previously a Taliban intelligence chief and fought alongside Islamist militant groups. Wasiq “arranged for Al-Qaeda personnel to train Taliban intelligence staff in intelligence methods” according to the leaked documents. An administrative review in 2007, citing a source, claimed that Wasiq was also “an Al-Qaeda intelligence member.”
Noori had served as the governor of Balkh and Laghman provinces during the Taliban’s last stint in power, and according to documents shared by WikiLeaks he was wanted “for possible war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiite Muslims.” He said that “he never received any weapons or military training,” but reports suggest he was central to the fight against the Northern Alliance, a US-backed grouping of anti-Taliban factions.
Meanwhile, Fazil is no stranger to the role of deputy defense minister, having previously held it more than two decades ago. He was accused of war crimes during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s and, like Noori, he was wanted in connection with the murder of thousands of Shiites during the conflict. “When asked about the murders, he did not express any regret and stated they did what they needed to do in their struggle to establish their ideal state,” a WikiLeaks document says.
New Culture Minister Khairkhah previously served as interior minister and governor of Herat province during the Taliban’s 1996-2001 administration, according to CNN, citing official documents. He was labelled a “major opium drug lord” and allegedly was a direct associate of Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda's Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The WikiLeaks documents on Wasiq, Noori, and Fazil cite them as being a “high” risk to the US and its allies, as well as being of high intelligence value.
Bergdahl, who deserted his post in 2009 before being captured by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has not matched the lofty heights achieved by the ‘Guantanamo Five’ since his release. He avoided jail time but was given a dishonorable discharge.
So, was that trade really worth it? Why did they want him so badly?
While few were convinced that the Taliban would deliver on their promise of an inclusive government, the new administration appears to be a real concern for the US and its allies. Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani is wanted by the FBI, with a $5 million (£3.6 million) bounty on his head.
“We also are concerned by the affiliations and track records of some of the individuals,” a US State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday evening.
Last week, Deputy Leader Abdul Ghani Baradar promised to form an “inclusive” government, and the Taliban believe they have done their best to do so. Talking to Sputnik Afghanistan, Taliban official Bilal Karimi claimed the new government brings together people from across the nation.
However, the State Department appears to be unsatisfied with the Taliban’s definition of inclusivity. On Tuesday, Washington pointed out the absence of women in the new cabinet, along with the fact it consists exclusively of Taliban members.
