Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

UN Wire - In an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera yesterday, the spiritual leader of the world's Ismaili Shiite Muslims, the Aga Khan, accused the Taliban of imposing on Afghanistan an interpretation of Islam that was previously foreign to the Afghan people. 'I am amazed by the ignorance about Islam,' he said.'Abandoned by all and conquered by the Taliban, [Afghanistan] turned into an immense international terrorist training camp,' the Aga Khan added. In a post-Taliban Afghanistan, the role of the deposed king will be important, he said, adding that any new government will need the 'rigorous support of the United Nations' and a full social and economic reconstruction effort to benefit all the country's ethnic groups (Massimo Nava, Oct. 22, UN Wire translation).