Hope and fear mark countdown to NATO pull-out
5 Nov 2012 6:08 AM IST
In a spectacular valley swept by centuries of Silk Road history, the hopes and fears of Afghanistan's only female governor capture the mood across the country as Western troops prepare to withdraw.
Habiba Sarabi's hope springs from the transformation of Bamyan province from a place of massacres and oppression of women under Taliban Islamists to one where most people live in peace and young girls flock to school. It is fuelled by a belief that the historical, cultural and physical beauty of the central province could become a magnet for international tourists whose dollars would help support those gains. The fear comes from the fact US-led NATO forces that have fought Taliban insurgents for the past 11 years will leave the country by the end of 2014 and all gains could be lost.
“If NATO totally makes the decision to withdraw I am sure a civil war will start,” she told AFP in an interview in her modest office in Bamyan town, where donkeys vie for space on the roads with cars and few weapons are in sight. If Afghanistan is spared the disaster Sarabi fears, it is not inconceivable that her dream of turning the area into an international eco-tourist destination could be realised.
Habiba Sarabi's hope springs from the transformation of Bamyan province from a place of massacres and oppression of women under Taliban Islamists to one where most people live in peace and young girls flock to school. It is fuelled by a belief that the historical, cultural and physical beauty of the central province could become a magnet for international tourists whose dollars would help support those gains. The fear comes from the fact US-led NATO forces that have fought Taliban insurgents for the past 11 years will leave the country by the end of 2014 and all gains could be lost.
“If NATO totally makes the decision to withdraw I am sure a civil war will start,” she told AFP in an interview in her modest office in Bamyan town, where donkeys vie for space on the roads with cars and few weapons are in sight. If Afghanistan is spared the disaster Sarabi fears, it is not inconceivable that her dream of turning the area into an international eco-tourist destination could be realised.
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