Canada Demands Afghan Leader Explain Women's Rights Crackdown

Canada Demands Afghan Leader Explain Women's Rights Crackdown

(NSI News Sour

ce Info) STRASBOURG - April 4, 2009: Canada demanded Friday that Afghan President Hamid Karzai come forward with an explanation for a new law restricting women's rights in the Islamic country.Afghan president Hamid Karzai arrives at the World Forum Center in The Hague. Speaking ahead of a NATO summit in this French city, Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said the legislation was "extremely alarming and would be troublesome for a lot of the allies". "We are calling on President Karzai to be able to come forward with an explanation," Cannon told reporters. At issue is the Shia Personal Status Law, which reportedly makes it illegal for a woman from Afghanistan's Shia Muslim minority to refuse sex with her husband or to leave home without his permission. It also denies her custody of their children after a divorce. Cannon said such rules would be "injurious and offensive" for women. "It's Canada's policy to support human rights. That's the reason I'm asking President Karzai for a clarification," he said. Canada has some 2,800 troops in southern Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force routing insurgents, and has pledged massive financial aid to the war-torn country. Since the start of its mission in 2002, 116 Canadian soldiers, a senior diplomat and two aid workers have been killed in Afghanistan.