Afghan Taliban ban Iranian New Year celebrations

KABUL, March 20 (AFP) - Afghanistan's puritanical Taliban militia have banned Iranian New Year celebrations and warned that those who mark the occasion will be branded infidels, official radio said Tuesday.

Mohammad Salim Haqqani, the acting Minister for Fostering Virtue and Suppressing Vice, said Afghans should "hate" the Persian New Year, or Norouz.

"The celebration of Norouz is linked to non-believers and the great Prophet (peace be upon him) has forbidden us from being similar to the non-believers," Radio Shariat quoted him as saying.

"If during this day or in this respect somebody buys something which he normally would not buy ... in fact he becomes a kafir (non-believer). "Celebration of Norouz is a vice. The public should stop marking it and should hate it."

The Taliban are trying to deny Afghanistan's pre-Islamic history and recently provoked international condemnation for destroying ancient Buddhist statues.

Norouz, which is celebrated in Iran with the spring equinox on Wednesday, was part of neighbouring Afghanistan's official calendar before the Taliban took Kabul in 1996.

The celebrations in Iran have their roots in Zoroastrian tradition, from the monotheistic religion of old Persia, which has survived in Iran despite the coming of Islam in the seventh century.

In Afghanistan, which has a large Persian-speaking minority, the Taliban have also banned music, television, cinema, Western clothing and hair styles to create their concept of a pure Islamic state.

Haqqani, from the religious police department, said Afghans could only celebrate Islamic Eid festivals.