Taliban leader bans use of Internet

By Kathy Gannon
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban ruler has banned international aid organizations from using the Internet in a country that has no proper postal service and few working telephones.

In an edict issued Saturday, Mullah Mohammed Omar also barred government departments and domestic aid organizations from using the Internet, including to send e-mail.

Mullah Omar's edict said the only Internet connection in Afghanistan would be in the southern city of Kandahar, where most of the senior Taliban leaders are based.

Aid groups working in Afghanistan depend heavily on the Internet to communicate with each other and with their headquarters. The country has been devastated by decades of war and natural disasters.

It wasn't clear how the edict would be enforced, but Mullah Omar said enforcement would be the job of the Taliban's ministry for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice.

The edict did not specify the punishment, saying only that it would be in keeping with Islamic law. It did not specify how Internet connections violated the tenets of Islam.

The Taliban rule about 95 percent of Afghanistan and impose a harsh brand of Islam, barring women from working and forcing them to wear restrictive clothing, requiring men to pray in mosques and banning most forms of light entertainment.

The Internet ban was the latest blow to aid groups working in the South Asian nation. Three weeks ago, the Taliban arrested foreign employees of a Christian aid organization, including two Americans, accusing them of preaching Christianity.