U.S. makes mockery of Afghan democracy: ousted MP

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States is making a mockery of democracy and the war on terrorism by supporting corrupt Afghan lawmakers who are criminals and warlords, said an outspoken female Afghan politician, who was removed from parliament.

Malalai Joya, 29, was effectively expelled last month when the lower house of parliament voted to suspend her for the remaining 3 1/2 years of her term after she described the legislative body as "worse than a stable" during an interview.

Washington "supports the same enemies, who are mentally like the Taliban. ... They brought them back into power," soft-spoken Joya told Reuters in an interview during her first visit to the United States.

"This is the wrong policy. Do not support fundamentalist warlords," she said. "Every day for the people of Afghanistan is September 11. Please pressure your government to change this policy, it is a mockery of democracy, it is a mockery of the war on terror."

The United States invaded Afghanistan after the September 11 hijacked airliner attacks on New York and Washington to oust the Taliban government after if failed to surrender Osama bin Laden, leader of the Islamist al Qaeda network.

Afghanistan has been fractured by rival warlords since the Soviet Union pulled out in 1989 and its lower house of parliament, elected in 2005, is full of ex-warlords and former militia leaders along with suspected drug dealers.

'RAPE HER'

Dressed in a grey pinstriped suit with her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and sitting in the New York offices of Human Rights Watch, Joya said the parliament had kicked her out so she could no longer oppose and expose their actions.