Doha-bound Afghans will aim to give the war-ravaged country a better reputation abroad at least in the field of sport as they vie for medals in taekwondo, karate and wrestling in the Asian Games, an Afghan sports official told Xinhua on Monday.

An Afghan delegation grouping 86 members including 51 athletes will take part in the Dec. 1-15 Games in Doha, Qatar.

"We have two major goals for the Games. The first one is to show a new Afghanistan, which suffered decades of war, to the world," said Ghulam Jilani Ghurob, spokesman of Afghan National Olympic Committee, adding that the delegation wants to demonstrate Afghanistan's recovery from war, and its reconstruction

Ghurob said the second goal is to show Afghans' active participation in international sporting events and to invigorate national pride with a medal haul.

Afghan medal hopes rest in taekwondo, karate and wrestling, according to the spokesman, who said one Afghan female athlete had won a bronze medal in the 2002 Asian Games held in Busan, South Korea.

The Afghan athletes will participate in 11 sports, namely karate, track and field, body-building, boxing, basketball, snooker, fencing, judo, taekwondo, wushu and wrestling.

The Afghan delegation includes five female athletes, unthinkable under the oppressive Taliban regime.

During the extremist Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001, it was a daydream for Afghan females to participate in sports competitions given their prohibition to any education or work.

Afghanistan was banned by the International Olympic Committee from the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, as the Taliban regime carried out extremist polices in politics, social affairs, sports and so on.

Ghurob said over a dozen expatriates based in the United States, Britain and Australia would represent Afghanistan in the Doha Games. Among them, 11 men's basketballers are from the United States, added the spokesman.

Because of long-time war, millions of Afghan refugees remain overseas, although about five million refugees have returned since the Taliban fell in late 2001.

Due to a shortage of facilities, most Afghan athletes have had to train in Iran or India to receive training weeks ahead of the Asian Games before flying in to Doha.

According to a taekwondo coach who asked not to be named, an Afghan gold medalist will be rewarded with US$200 by the government, a silver medalist will gain US$150 and a bronze medal winner US$100.

"Despite various difficulties, we would actively join the coming Asian Games, and try to find more friends across the world especially in Asia," said Ghurob.
 
(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2006)