Afghans threatened with no bread

The bakeries sell subsidised bread to the poor

By Kate Clark in Islamabad

The United Nations Co-ordinator for Afghanistan, Erick de Mul, is holding talks with the Taleban authorities to try to resolve a dispute over food distribution.

The UN agency, the World Food Programme, says it will close the bakeries it runs in the capital, Kabul, unless the Taleban allows a survey to be conducted to assess those most in need of aid.

The Taleban says it is not Islamic for women to work outside the home

The current list of approved recipients is five years old, and the WFP says many hungry people are being deprived of food aid.

The WFP says it needs to hire Afghan women to conduct the survey, but the Taleban refuses to allow the UN to hire local women.

The agency says its delegation had two hours of talks with Taleban ministers and vice ministers, and that discussions were complex and delicate.

Severe restrictions are imposed on women in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan's conservative culture, male researchers would not be able to enter other people's homes. But the Taleban says it is not Islamic for women to work outside the home.

The Taleban deputy foreign minister, speaking to a local news agency, said they would not allow Islam to be blackmailed.

This is one of the most sensitive issues facing any aid agency in Afghanistan.

At risk, if there is no resolution, are almost 300,000 vulnerable people.

Harassment

Discussions between the Taleban and the UN delegation are expected to continue on Monday.

The UN also wants to discuss its general relations with the Taleban.

It has recently accused them of hindering its aid effort at a time when it is trying to get more aid to Afghans hit by drought and fighting.

The UN has complained of NGO and UN staff being arrested in Herat and Kabul on what it calls unsubstantiated allegations.

It also says Afghan and international staff have been subject to physical abuse and harassment.

Access blocked

It has accused the Taleban of blocking humanitarian access to the central Hazarajet region, where 60,000 people have been forced from their homes by fighting.

One suggestion put forward by the Taleban deputy foreign minister to resolve the bakery issue was to hire foreign, rather than Afghan, women.

The UN says that is not a workable solution. Apart from the cost, it says, there are simply not enough foreign women who speak Persian and Pashtu.