Afghan editor slams US practice of using warlords (Prey on women and kids)

NEW YORK, May 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. policy of engaging Afghan warlords to hunt down al Qaeda members is undermining the recovery of the devastated country, said a prominent Afghan editor who helped draft the new constitution.

Shukria Barakzai, 33, in New York to receive the Worldpress.org's 2004 International Editor of the Year award at the United Nations, made clear her gratitude for the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, which ended many limitations on women.

But for all the progress since the fall of the fundamentalist Taliban leaders, Barakzai said the new liberties were threatened by the increasing use of warlords to hunt al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents in the south.

"We still live in the middle of a warlords' war that is becoming worse, and more women and children are becoming victims of different groups," Barakzai told Reuters in an interview.

more