U.S. pleased at Afghan women's law review

WASHINGTON, April 7 (UPI) -- The United States is pleased with Afghan President Hamid Karzai's decision to review a new law affecting women's rights, the State Department said Tuesday.

"(We're) glad that President Karzai has agreed to review this law critics say permits spousal rape and severely limits women's rights," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood. "And we'll be watching this closely to see how the process develops."

Karzai earlier said he directed government officials to review the law he said was "misunderstood" by Western critics and media.

Wood said U.S. officials wanted the law reviewed to ensure "there are no provisions in there that discriminate against women, that violate the rights of women. ... You know, women have had an unfortunate and a very sad history in Afghanistan."

The spokesman said the matter was important to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama, as well as the international community.

"We have a number of female soldiers who are serving in Afghanistan," Wood said. "You know, this type of a law shouldn't have been enacted without regard to changing some of these provisions that send a very negative signal to the international community about where Afghanistan is going."