Kabul, Aug 24: Afghan President Hamid Karzai today denounced the use of child suicide bombers, saying that militants who recruit them to wage terror are "oppressors of Islam" and "oppressors of children."
 The President's message was designed to highlight how the Taliban and other militants are soliciting children to conduct suicide bombings, which often kill other innocent Afghans and Muslims.
 Karzai sat in a sunny courtyard at the presidential palace with about 20 youth who had either surrendered to Afghan authorities or had been arrested across the nation in connection with planned suicide bombings.
 After a brief chat, he ordered aides to help the young men, ages 10 through 16, find homes, education or be released to their parents.
 He challenged the older ones to have a discussion with him and his religious advisers about whether launching suicide bombings and conducting other violence were the best ways to secure the future of Afghanistan.
 "If you convince us that you are right, we will go with you," Karzai told them.
 In southern Afghanistan, a local government official was assassinated last evening, the third official killed in Helmand province in a week, officials said.
 The governor's office in Helmand said two gunmen on a motorcycle fired at a member of the Nawa district council in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital. The councilman was rushed to a hospital but died of his wounds. AP

Lastupdate on : Wed, 24 Aug 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:00:00 IST