First lady speaks on Afghan women

CRAWFORD, Texas -- Laura Bush took the lead for the administration Saturday in the latest public effort to discredit the Taliban, decrying the ruling militia's "brutal oppression" of women in Afghanistan.

The campaign is meant to make restoring women's rights a priority when a new government emerges after the war.

While Mrs. Bush gave what aides said was the first weekly presidential radio address given in full by a first lady, Amnesty International said the U.S.-aided northern alliance and other Afghan opposition groups also have committed "heinous abuses" against women.

Her remarks closed out a week in which the Taliban showed signs of collapsing after abandoning several important cities. The United Nations top envoy for Afghanistan was trying to persuade the northern alliance to join other factions in a meeting outside the country on forming a transitional government.