Press Club opens in Kabul

A dozen women journalists snipped ribbons in national colours to formally open Afghanistan's first independent press club in Kabul on 29 April. They were among 50 Afghan journalists present. The well-equipped club, which aims to be a meeting place and centre of discussion for both foreign and Afghan journalists, was built with help from Reporters Without Borders, the French NGO Aina, which is promoting the country's independent media, and from several press clubs in France, including one in Nantes. The club, near Aina's media centre in the heart of the city, has a newsstand, a cyber-café and other computer facilities. It will be run by a journalists' group, the Afghan Centre for the Promotion of Communication, which will organise press conferences and ensure journalists can express themselves openly and defend press freedom.