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To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (44745)	10/2/2003 7:54:19 PM
From: NickSE	Respond to of 50167

Afghanistan's proposed constitution to enshrine women's rights after decades of repression sfgate.com Hoping to end decades of repression against women in this country, a proposed Afghan constitution to be released soon enshrines equal rights for all and bans forced marriages, bridal dowries, and other forms of discrimination, officials said Thursday. The draft constitution guarantees women at least one seat from each of the 32 provinces on the wholesi jirga, the national parliament, and a minimum of 25 seats in the mushran jirga, the senate, said Fatima Gailani, a member of the Constitutional Review Commission. The total number of seats in each assembly has not yet been decided. "Women will no longer be treated like animals in this country," said Shukria Barakzai, another member said. The draft document says the government must provide women with education and health care not only equal to men, but that additional provisions must be written to care for pregnant women and educate widows whose husbands were killed during the last two decades of war. President Hamid Karzai is expected to make public the draft constitution in the next week. A 10-day meeting of a 500-member loya jirga, or grand council, is to convene in December to debate and ratify the document. Implementing a constitution is crucial for Afghanistan as it lays the foundations for its first democratic elections in decades, scheduled for June 2004. The constitution comes nearly two years after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban regime, which banned women from working and barred girls from school. Many Afghans continue to adhere to the ultraconservative views practiced by the Taliban, and implementation of the constitution is expected to take years, especially in rural areas ruled by warlords and where the government has little authority. "This is a first step forward for women's rights," Gailani said. But "there won't be any immediate change in the countryside for women. It will take time. But perhaps in the cities things will change if the government takes it seriously." A team of 35 Afghans -- including seven women -- have been working for the past 11 months to draw up the new constitution. The process has included consulting 150,000 members of the public in cities and rural areas. Gailani said it was sometimes intimidating explaining the importance of women's rights to villagers. "We'd sit in mosques and have cold-eyed young Taliban (students) demanding answers about things. But they calmed down when we explained how women's rights are part of Islam," she said. The draft constitution, as well as outlining women's rights, also declares Afghanistan a Muslim state but stops short of imposing Islamic Shariah law. Under Shariah, the hard-line Taliban ordered men to grow their beards long and pray five times a day, and carried out public executions and amputations for a range of crimes. Women's rights and Shariah law have been the most hotly debated on the constitutional commission, those involved have said. "No other Islamic country has a constitution that is so liberating for women," said Gailani, who used to be a London-based spokeswoman for the Afghan Mujahedeen rebels, who battled Soviet occupying forces in the 1980s. "Men and women are equal. In Afghanistan's history, this is totally new." Women have long been discriminated against in this conservative Islamic society. Education levels and health care for women are often less than those for men. Fathers ask for payment from other families in exchange for allowing their daughters to marry. The bride is often not given a choice.

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (44745)	10/3/2003 3:10:35 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

The economy exited recession in November 2001, 1.1 million jobs have been lost since then as businesses showed a surprising ability to boost output while still showing workers the door. The latest remarks add to a torrent of recent Fed-speak that has boldly underlined the expectation among policymakers that the benchmark overnight interest rate, currently at a 45-year low of 1 percent, is likely to stay low for some time. The Fed sent that message in unusually clear language after both of its past two meetings in statements that said "policy accommodation can be maintained for a considerable period." Reuters..