Dutch government says minister was misquoted on Taliban's human rights

THE HAGUE, Feb 21 (AFP) - Comments by Dutch foreign aid minister Jan Pronk on the human rights stance of Afghanistan's Taliban militia were misquoted, a spokesman for his ministry said late Friday. Pronk, currently in Afghanistan on a fact-finding mission, was quoted as saying that "there is a misconception that the present regime is really violating human rights." "There are some human rights being implemented in a different way on the basis of a different philosophy," he reportedly said. But ministry spokesman Peter Knoope said that what Pronk actually said was: "It is a mistake to think that only the Taliban violate human rights, since their opponents do likewise." The minister had added that he had found it easier than he had expected to raise human rights questions with the Taliban, especially women's rights. The puritanical militia, which captured Kabul after bloody fighting in September 1996, has imposed a strict interpretation of the Islamic Sharia law and has banned women from education and work. Pronk's quoted remarks were met with stunned disbelief by Dutch members of parliament earlier Friday.