In his first Western media interview since As the Taliban took complete control of Afghanistan, one of the group's leaders tried to present it in a new light — insisting that the Taliban had changed since they were last in power.
«We want to build a future and forget what happened in the past,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an interview with The New York Times.
During the conversation, he denied reports that the group was targeting Afghans who helped the US or the previous government , and insisted that the Taliban did not intend to severely restrict the rights of women, as they did 20 years ago.
The interview came just a day after Mr. Mujahid warned the women of Afghanistan that they might it will be safer to stay at home until the Taliban fighters are instructed on how to deal with them.
Although Muja hid tried to create a new, much more tolerant image of the Taliban, yet he confirmed the information that music would now be banned in public, according to Profile magazine.
«Music is banned in Islam,» he said. , but we hope we can convince people not to do such things, instead of putting pressure on them.”
When the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in 1996, they banned almost all music, calling her sinful. According to the Associated Press, the tapes were destroyed and hung from trees. An exception was made for some religious works.
