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Woman delegate almost expelled from Afghan assembly KABUL, Dec. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- A woman delegate was almost expelledon Wednesday from the ongoing Afghan constitutional assembly aftershe criticized Mujahidin leaders for their past involvement in thecivil war.
In her speech, Malalai Joya from the western Farah province accused Mujahidin factions, who fought the former Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, of triggering a four-year civil war and destroying the country.
"Those Mujahidin leaders who were responsible for the country'sdestruction should be tried," she told a plenary assembly session broadcast live by Kabul Television.
Joya's argument provoked many fellow delegates, including former Jihadi leader Abdurab Rasoul Sayyaf, who asked the assemblyto take action against her.
Assembly chairman Sibghatullah Mujadadi, also a former Jihadi leader, then ordered the expulsion of Joya from the session, telling security personnel to take her away from the floor.
The outspoken woman delegate could stay at the session only after other woman delegates intervened by asking the chairman to forgive her.
However, Joya, a doctor, refused to apologize for her harsh speech to the session.
Over 100 women are among the 502 delegates at the gathering, opened on Sunday, to discuss and adopt Afghanistan's new constitution after the hard-line ruling Taliban was ousted two years ago.
The fundamentalist Taliban regime confined women to their houses and barred girls from going to school during its six-year rule.
However, critics said that the draft constitution under discussions at the assembly guarantees no sufficient rights for Afghan women.
Infighting between various Mujahidin groups for power since 1992, after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, destroyed much of the country, including the capital city Kabul. Enditem
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