Afghan Demonstrators Call for Wide Amnesty

Protesters demanding amnesty for former mujahedeen leaders and warlords climb a light tower at Kabul National Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan. Soraya Nelson, NPR hide caption
Protesters demanding amnesty for former mujahedeen leaders and warlords climb a light tower at Kabul National Stadium in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Soraya Nelson, NPRFormer Afghan mujahedeen and several thousand of their supporters held an unprecedented protest at Kabul's National Stadium to criticize the central government and the United States for turning their backs on their one-time allies.
The gathering was also aimed at pressuring President Karzai to sign a controversial resolution passed by both houses of parliament in the past month that would grant amnesty to anyone — including the Taliban and warlords — involved in Afghanistan's bloody past.