US open to Afghan Taliban talks

Al Jazeera 09/03/2009

“Yesterday, Mr Obama accepted and approved the path of peace and talks with those Afghan Taliban who he called moderates,” Karzai said during a function in Kabul to mark International Women’s Day on the 8^th of March 2009.

Ahmed Shah Ahmedzai, a former prime minister of Afghanistan, said,” The Taliban want to negotiate and tell the Americans and international troops to go out. Through this negotiation, a timetable will be chosen and the other issues regarding foreign troops being in Afghanistan will be discussed and this is the beginning to solve the crisis.”

“War is not the solution in Afghanistan, the only solution is to start the peace proceedings.”

Afghan women say ,” Come pray for peace with justice.”

8^th March 2009, International Women’s Day

In 2008, a small group of women in Kandahar, one of the most volatile areas of Afghanistan , came up with a simple but powerful idea: Let’s gather in a public square to pray for peace with justice in Afghanistan .

They began to spread the word to friends and colleagues, and decided to stage the action on March 8 2008, International Women’s Day. Expecting only a few women to show up, more than 1,500 women gathered in Kandahar that day – all with the same goal: to call attention to women’s desire for peace in Afghanistan. The action caught the attention of the international media and women’s groups all over the world.

This year’s International Women’s Day on the 8^th of March 2009 saw 12 Afghan women peace leaders from 7 provinces throughout Afghanistan- Kandahar, Kabul ,Jalalabad, Duikundi, Bamiyan, Mazar, and Heart leading a national peace action program, gathering women for an hour at various locations throughout these provinces to pray for peace with justice in Afghanistan.