HindustanTimes.com

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

Germany reopens cultural institute in Afghanistan

Associated Press
Kabul, September 23

Germany has opened the first foreign cultural institute in Afghanistan since
the fall of the repressive Taliban regime.

The Goethe Institute, which offers language study and other cultural
programmes, officially reopened on Monday in the capital, Kabul, after a
12-year absence.

The return of foreign-funded schools and libraries is meant to underpin a
tentative cultural renaissance in this city, much of which was destroyed in
the two decades of war that paved the way for the rise of hard-line Islamic
Taliban.

"The focus is on the common search for a new way forward after more than 20
years of war and destruction, a way forward which draws on the gentle power
of culture," said Wolfgang Bader, the Deputy General-Secretary of the
Munich-based institute, at an opening ceremony.

Amid the violence still wracking much of the country, and warnings that
Westerners could be targeted for terrorist attacks, Bader said bringing
staff back into Kabul was "courageous".

A French cultural institute is expected to open shortly. The British Council
is also considering a return, possibly in 2004, embassy officials said.

The United States plans to sponsor small libraries across the city and is
recruiting dozens of Afghan students for yearlong study trips later this
year.

The Goethe Institute plans to offer a language programme, and to send Afghan
artists, teachers and librarians to work with their contemporaries in
Germany.

© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.
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