Prohibited Zone (29 page)

‘Kabul. In Afghanistan.'

‘When were you born?'

‘Nineteen eighty-four.'

‘Tell me about your mother.'

‘I do not remember much about her. She died when I was very young.'

‘How did she die?'

‘At that time, the Soviets were in Afghanistan. They had many men but few women. Sometimes they took Afghan women. Some soldiers came to my home. They took my mother, they took my sister. We never saw them again.'

‘They were taken as sex slaves?'

‘Yes. They were taken for sex. And later they were killed.'

‘How old were you then?'

‘I was two years old.'

‘You were told what happened to your mother and your sister later, when you were older?'

‘Yes. By my father.'

‘How do you know they were killed?'

‘They did not come back. The Soviets left but my mother and my sister did not come back, and nor did many other women. They were all killed, I think.'

‘So you were raised by your father?'

‘Yes.'

‘You had two brothers. What happened to them?'

‘My older brother Ahmed was taken by the Mujahideen. They needed fighters and they took anyone they wanted. They took him. He was twelve years old. I never saw him again.'

‘Do you think he is dead?'

‘Yes.'

‘When did you last see him?'

‘Ten years ago.'

‘What was he like?'

‘He was beautiful. People say he was like my mother. He was always laughing, always smiling, always protecting me. He was a very good boy.'

‘You miss him?'

‘Of course. I miss him every day.'

‘He was born in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

‘Yes. He was too young to go fighting, and much too young to die.'

‘Tell us about your other brother. What was his name?'

‘Khalid.'

He became involved with the Taliban?'

‘Yes. When the Soviets left the Mujahideen started fighting among themselves. Then the Taliban came to Kabul. They stopped the fighting, but they wanted to change people. All the men had to grow beards, this long. All women had to wear the burqa.'

‘The burqa is . . .'

‘The burqa is a kind of dress that covers the entire body, even the face and of course the hair. If we did not wear it properly, if it was too short or if it was damaged, the Taliban beat us. The Taliban beat many, many women in the street just for not wearing the burqa correctly.'

‘Were you ever beaten?'

‘No, I never went out. My father did not want me to go out because he was afraid the Taliban would beat me.'

‘But Khalid went out?'

‘Yes. All boys had to go to the Taliban school. They taught the Qur'an, and only the Qur'an. Well, they also taught that America was evil. But that is all. Khalid went to the Taliban school, but he didn't like it. He was very angry with the Taliban. He went to join the Mujahideen, like Ahmed. So the Taliban were very angry with him. They captured some Mujahideen fighters, and one of them was Khalid. They brought him back to Kabul. They hanged him in the football stadium.'

‘Did you see this?'

‘No, I did not see it but my friend, my neighbour, he told me. The Taliban were very angry with my father. They took him from the house and took him to the football stadium.'

‘To watch Khalid die?'

‘Yes. To watch him die. But he never spoke about it to me. He couldn't bear it.'

‘By now he had lost his wife, a daughter and two sons.'

‘Yes. There was only me left.'

‘Tell me about your father.'

‘He was a good man, a gentle man. He was a university professor, but when the civil war started he did not go to university anymore. When the Taliban arrived in Kabul, they searched our houses and took all his books except the Qur'an. My father had many books, thousands, probably. The Taliban took them all. They burnt all the books in the street. There were many bonfires in Kabul at that time. For a long time there was ash on the roof of our house from those fires. One day the rain washed it away. It was the end, I think, for my father. He didn't go out much after that. He spent his time teaching me. That was what he knew, what was important to him, to transfer knowledge. He taught me English, mathematics, history. Even without books he could teach. He was a good teacher, but he was too gentle for Afghanistan.'

‘How did you survive?'

‘We had many friends, many good neighbours who loved my father. They looked after us, shared food. My father had a garden. He grew vegetables, fruit. We had chickens. I looked after them. I liked the chickens; they were so funny. The Taliban did not like my father. They gave us trouble all the time. Mullah Abdul wanted to take me for a wife. My father kept telling him, no, she is too young. The mullah kept coming to see my father, he kept saying no. He said I was sick, that I had some nasty disease, that I was ugly. The mullah did not believe him. One day, the mullah arrived with three men, three talibs. They all had black beards, they all wore black turbans, they all wore shalwar kameez, the robe of the Taliban. They all had sticks and Mullah Abdul had a gun. He threatened my father. He said he was sick of waiting for my father to agree and he was just going to take me. My father again said no. The three Talibs hit him with their sticks.'

‘Where were you when this was happening?'

‘I was in the house but I could see and hear everything. The Taliban had made us paint the windows because they said that women must stay out of view, but I could see through scratches in the paint.'

‘What happened next?'

‘My father still argued. So Mullah Abdul shot him, here, in the stomach. My father fell down, and Mullah Abdul shot him three more times.'

‘He killed your father in cold blood.'

‘Yes. He murdered him. The other three men watched. One spat on his body.'

‘Then Mullah Abdul came for you.'

‘Yes. I saw him turn towards the house. He was smiling, still holding the gun. Another unbeliever dead, I suppose. My father was lying in the dust. There was blood on the ground. But it was very quiet. Perhaps the sound of the gun had frightened people, like birds; they stopped making noise. Mullah Abdul came into the house, with the other three. Mullah Abdul grabbed me. I was not wearing the burqa, so he could see my face. He said that he knew now that my father had lied. He said I was beautiful and that I would make him very happy. He asked me if I was happy now, because I could be his wife. His teeth were very bad, his breath was very bad. He started to feel my body, all over. He told the men to search the rest of the house for books. Then he struggled with me. He told me that I must take off my clothes. I refused. He told me that he was a mullah and that I must obey. He was laughing. He started to pull off my clothes. He exposed himself. He hit me.'

‘Did he rape you?'

‘No, because then my neighbour came in. He took care of the mullah and the other men.'

‘Took care?'

‘He killed them. With a knife.'

‘Your neighbour killed Mullah Abdul and three other men?'

‘Yes. He was very angry with the Taliban for killing my father and touching me.'

‘Who was this neighbour?'

‘I cannot say.'

‘You're afraid he might suffer?'

‘Yes.'

‘But the Taliban are no longer in power in Kabul.'

‘It does not matter. It is still very dangerous in Afghanistan.'

‘So you were in your house. Your father lay dead outside, and four men, including a mullah, were dead inside. What did you do?'

‘My neighbour told me I must escape. I had a friend who lived nearby. He knew my brother Ahmed. He was always looking after me. He helped me escape.'

‘Your friend was Amir Ali Khan?'

‘Yes.'

‘Tell me about him.'

‘He has been very kind to me. He promised Ahmed that he would always look after me. He treats me like a sister. He protects me.'

‘I would like you to look at this photograph. Do you recognise the man in the photo?'

‘Yes. That is Amir.'

‘The man who helped you escape the Taliban?'

‘Yes.'

‘The Australian government says he is a terrorist, a member of the al-Qaeda terrorist group.'

‘Yes, so they say.'

‘Is he a terrorist?'

‘No, he is not a terrorist. He does not want to hurt people.'

‘The government says that he knows Osama bin Laden himself and trained in one of Osama's training camps.'

‘Yes, I think that is true. He told me that he had met Osama.'

‘He admitted meeting Osama bin Laden?'

‘Yes. But he told me he doesn't want to fight. Not Americans, not Australians. He doesn't want to fight anyone.'

‘But he
was
a fighter?'

‘Most men in Afghanistan are fighters. He fought with Ahmed for the Mujahideen and for the United Islamic Front, you know, the Northern Alliance, against the Taliban. Al-Qaeda do not like him. He came to Kabul to protect me and my father from the Taliban.'

‘Was it Amir Ali who killed the Taliban mullah and the three others?'

‘No. It was a neighbour. I told you that.'

‘Not Amir Ali?'

‘No! Why do you keep asking?'

‘Did you ever see Amir Ali commit a violent act?'

‘Almost every man in Afghanistan has committed violence at one time or another. Afghanistan is a violent country.'

‘Amir Ali escaped from the Woomera Detention Centre at the same time that you did. He hasn't been seen since. Do you know where he is?'

‘No, I do not know. I wish I did.'

‘The government is worried that he is planning a terrorist attack.'

‘That is not true.'

‘He never talked to you about attacking Australian targets? Maybe hurting the politicians who were keeping you in detention?'

‘No. It is a stupid idea.'

‘When did Amir meet Osama bin Laden?'

‘I do not know! They are not friends. They are not enemies. They mean nothing to each other.'

‘Okay, let's move on. Amir Ali helped you to escape from Afghanistan?'

‘Yes.'

‘Tell me about that.'

‘We had help from many people, many friends. They risked their lives for us. We left Kabul that day. I wore the burqa, Amir pretended he was my husband. A friend gave us a donkey, even though that donkey was his livelihood. I rode the donkey and Amir walked beside it. We walked for a long way. We walked all the way to Jalalabad. We were lucky that the Taliban were not organised. They didn't arrest us because they couldn't find us. Once we were stopped by some Taliban officials. They asked Amir if I was his wife and he said yes. They asked him why I was riding the donkey and he said because the donkey was old and he was too heavy for it. They just laughed and said they hoped he wasn't too heavy to ride his wife at night. Then they let us go.'

‘They never suspected you?'

‘No.'

‘You arrived in Jalalabad.'

‘Yes. When we got to Jalalabad more friends helped us. They told us how to get to Pakistan. We took a mountain pass on a very steep, very rocky, very dangerous path. We were told there were many bandits in the mountains but we were lucky and were not attacked. We arrived in Pakistan at a refugee camp. We stayed there for several months. Then Amir arranged for us to leave Pakistan.'

‘How did you leave Pakistan?'

‘Amir had money. He made contact with some people smugglers.'

‘Where did Amir get the money?'

‘I don't know.'

‘Then he made contact with people smugglers?'

‘Yes. They got us passports and air tickets. We flew to Jakarta in Indonesia. When we arrived there we were met by other people smugglers. They took us in a bus somewhere, I do not know where. We stayed in a house with many other people, all waiting for a boat to take us away. Many people wanted to go to Australia.'

‘Why did you want to go to Australia?'

‘My father liked Australia. He often said he would like to live there. He said it was a good place, and that we would be treated with respect.'

‘So you told the people smugglers you wanted to go to Australia. What happened then?'

‘After many days we were taken to a small town by the sea. We hid until night time and we were taken onboard a boat. It was a small, stinking boat with no toilet. They put dozens of us on board, many more than they should have.'

‘How many?'

‘Perhaps sixty. Too many for such a small boat. We were almost falling off the deck. There were people from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Iraq. Many from Iraq. We were all squeezed together, Sunni, Shi'a, Christian. It was very difficult, very unclean.'

‘It was a difficult voyage?'

‘Very difficult.'

From its place in my hip pocket my phone rang. I pulled it out and diverted the call. Kat shot a sharp glance at me and leant back in her chair.

‘Okay, let's take a break. Cut, fellas.'

I looked at the phone screen. The call was from Tarrant.

‘More coffee, please,' Kat said to me. ‘And turn your phone off, will you?' She looked back at Saira. ‘That was great. We'll have a fifteen-minute break and then launch back into it, okay?'

‘Yes, that is fine.'

Kara, Lucy and Saira left the room and Ray and I cranked out more coffee.

‘Saira's had a fun life,' I said.

Ray didn't reply. He was listening to the conversation between Kat and Susan, so I tuned in, too.

‘She's convincing,' Susan was saying. ‘Genuine. The viewers will warm to her. But that's hardly the point, is it?'

‘Look, I don't see any harm in getting her story on tape.'

‘I guess not, but we've got a fair bit to do if this is to go to air on Sunday.'

‘Okay,' said Kat, ‘I'll move a bit quicker now.'