Karzai says he will not praise IEA until girls return to school

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he will not make positive comments about the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) as long as Afghan girls remain barred from attending school.

Speaking to the Financial Times during an interview at his home in Kabul, Karzai said IEA officials frequently contact him to complain about his public statements and ask why he does not say something positive about their government.

Karzai said he tells them that positive remarks will not come from him until girls are allowed to return to school. “When girls go back to school, I will have something positive to say about you. Not today,” he said.

The former president also described education for girls and women’s participation in society as fundamental to Afghanistan’s future. He said educated Afghan women are needed in business, schools, medicine, engineering, the judiciary and the media.

Karzai also called for political coexistence in Afghanistan, saying both the IEA and its opponents are Afghans and that the country needs compromise rather than another cycle of conflict and changes in power.

“The Taliban (IEA) belongs to Afghanistan. And the opposition to the Taliban (IEA) belongs to Afghanistan,” he said, adding that Afghanistan needs to become “a country for everyone.”

The former president also said the ongoing US-Iran conflict is having a significant impact on Afghanistan’s economy and regional stability. Given Afghanistan’s close historical, cultural and geographic ties with Iran, Karzai said Afghanistan strongly wants the conflict to end.