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Islamabad (dpa) - The wives of the Pakistani and US presidents, Sahiba Musharraf and Laura Bush, met Saturday and discussed the situation of women in the Muslim country.
State-run Pakistan Television reported that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's wife, Rukhsana Aziz, and his adviser on women affairs, Nilofar Bakhtiar, also attended the meeting, which came as Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf hosted US President George W. Bush.
They discussed the situation of women in parts of northern Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, where a massive earthquake wrought devastation last October, the report said.
Laura Bush later met Shaukat Aziz and asked about the Pakistani government's initiatives to protect women's rights.
Human rights groups and Western nations have been concerned about the growing violence against Pakistani women and denial of their rights under the pretext on traditions and religion.
Pakistani women are still killed by relatives for marrying spouses of their choice and disgracing family honour, while in tribal and rural areas they are forced to marry into rival families to settle local feuds.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
