Taleban defend Hindu badge plan

The Taleban have given the first public explanation of their plan to force Hindus in Afghanistan to identify themselves by wearing pieces of yellow cloth.

The Taleban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Za'eff, told a news conference in Islamabad that the wearing by non-Muslims of distinguishing clothing was not new, but part of Islamic tradition.

And he repeated the Taleban's assertion that the yellow badges were intended to protect Afghan Hindus from harassment by Islamic religious police.

The Taleban plan has been strongly criticised by the United Nations, India and the United States, who say it will stigmatise non-Muslims.

But Mullah Za'eff insisted Hindus and Sikhs had full rights under Taleban law and that, contrary to some reports, non-Muslim women would not be forced to cover their faces as Muslim women are.

The ambassador also stressed that the plan had still to be agreed by Afghanistan's Islamic court, and that only then could it be signed into law.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service