Afghan women activists feel betrayed by Oslo talks

Afghan women protesting against the Taliban’s harsh rule say they have been betrayed by Norway, the first Western nation to host the hardline terrorists since they seized power in August.
Led by the foreign minister, a Taliban delegation travelled first class on a plane specially chartered by the Norwegian government to Oslo for meetings with Western officials and members of Afghan civil society.
Women activists who have been facing intimidation by the Taliban after staging small and scattered protests are outraged by the diplomatic efforts.
“I am sorry for such a country as Norway for organizing this summit, sitting with terrorists, and making deals,” said Wahida Amiri, an activist who has protested regularly in Kabul since the Taliban’s return.
“It saddens me a lot. Shame on the world for accepting this and opening doors to the Taliban,” she told AFP.
Several women — too afraid to step outside -– instead protested in their homes in the cities of Kabul, Bamiyan and Mazar-i-Sharif, in images posted to social media.
“Norway has invited criminals and terrorists who have no respect for women’s rights and human rights,” an activist from Bamiyan who asked not to be identified told AFP.
“They (the Taliban) are against women and humanity and they do not believe in freedom of speech.”