Afghan woman minister hits back

Dr Samar: Challenging conservatives on role of women

Afghanistan's minister for women's affairs has rejected claims by Islamic hardliners that she does not believe in Islamic Sharia law.

The attack on Sima Samar appeared in a letter printed by the newspaper Mujahed. The letter called her "Afghanistan's Salman Rushdie" and implied that she is guilty of blasphemy.

Dr Samar has built hospitals throughout Afghanistan

But Dr Samar, who is also deputy chairwoman of the loya jirga national assembly, denied the allegations.

"I have never said that," she said.

"I am Muslim. I live in this Islamic country and I was part of the jihad, the peaceful jihad.

"I have built hospitals and schools with 25,000 students. This is my jihad and it is what I supported and have done since the Russians were here.

Every day there is an attack against me and I was expecting that kind of thing

Sima Samar

"I believe in human rights and women's rights and in peaceful speaking."

She said she could not understand why the newspaper wanted to discredit her.

"Those who published it know what their aim was. Every day there is an attack against me and I was expecting that kind of thing.

"But it is nothing - I have been through all these problems in the last 23 years of war."

Severe punishment

The attack was the result of claims that she told a Canadian newspaper reporter earlier in the year: "I don't believe in Sharia". The statement remains unconfirmed.

The letter writer declares the pre-eminence of Sharia law and urges the authorities to deal out appropriate punishment to the minister.

Mujahed, meaning "holy warrior", is printed by the Jamiat-e-Islami, the party of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who is said to have a strong support base in the loya jirga.

Sima Samar criticises the burqa, the traditional head covering

Under Taleban and mujahideen governments, such statements would have invoked severe punishment. But it is not yet clear what action, if any, will be taken in the event that Dr Samar is found to have said these words.

Observers at the assembly say the attack, coming on the verge of ministerial appointments, could be a deliberate move to minimise her role in any future administration.

Dr Samar was forced to explain herself last week after she called for a "new Afghanistan, where our children do not play with guns for toys and are kept away from evil and corruption".

Islamists took it as a reference to themselves and mujahideen fighters and lodged an angry protest.

Dr Samar, who is from the minority Hazara ethnic group, was appointed to the women's affairs ministry after the establishment of the interim administration in December.

She was also appointed deputy premier - the first time a woman has been selected for such a prominent position in the history of Afghanistan.

She has been an outspoken critic of the burqa, the traditional Afghan covering for women, and famously said: "I have three strikes against me. I'm a woman, I speak out for women and I'm a Hazara".