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OTTAWA -- Canada should review its military mission and consider pulling aid money from Afghanistan unless a law that ravages women's rights is rescinded, some MPs say.
Reacting to reports of a law that legalizes rape within marriage, bars women from leaving the house without their husband's permission and gives custody of children to fathers and grandfathers, the Conservative government warned yesterday of "serious implications" if the law stands. Calling it antithetical to Canada's mission in the country, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he is "deeply troubled" by the law.
"Making progress on human rights for women is a significant component of the international engagement in Afghanistan. It's a significant change we want to see from the bad old days of the Taliban," he told CBC News in London, where he is attending the G20 summit.
Critics around the world are accusing Afghan President Hamid Karzai of selling out to extremists in the run-up to this summer's elections.
NDP Leader Jack Layton demanded "real consequences" and urged an immediate review of Canada's role in the country.
"This is a very clear attack on women -- it even allows rape; 116 of our soldiers have died to change things in Afghanistan (since 2001). How can the government say our soldiers died to protect the rights of women when Hamid Karzai had this law adopted?"
While Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff shares the outrage, he does not believe the law calls into question the work of Canadian soldiers.
"What our troops are doing are providing basic security for the very women whose rights are being outraged here," he said. "That's what Canadian soldiers are doing every day."
NDP MP Dawn Black said Karzai must be warned in strongest terms he cannot use women's rights as a "tool for his re-election."
"It's up to our government to make clear to the Karzai government they will not continue to have the kind of support -- the billions of dollars that Canadians have poured into Afghanistan -- if this legislation stands unchallenged," she said.
KATHLEEN.HARRIS@SUNMEDIA.CA