Mukhtar Mai

Pakistan wants to ensure gang-rape victim Mukhtaran Mai finds justice, President Pervez Musharraf said on Wednesday, as he invited women from around the world to come and tell of their abuse and recommend solutions.

Mai, 33, was gang-raped on the orders of the traditional village council in 2002 after her brother -- who was 12 at the time -- was judged to have offended the honor of a powerful clan by befriending a woman from the tribe.

The rape and subsequent acquittal of five of the six men convicted of attacking her provoked an international outcry and focused attention on the plight of women in rural Pakistan. "I have always condemned in the strongest possible terms the actions of powerful groups to seek revenge on those who are weak by humiliating their women," Musharraf said in a statement posted on his Web site (www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk).

"The government remains committed to all the victims of such offences, including Mukhtaran Mai, in their quest for justice according to law," he said.

Mai has lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court against the acquittal of the men convicted of attacking her.

The court on Tuesday ordered the re-arrest of 13 men accused of involvement in the gang-rape, including the five men convicted of attacking her and eight members of the village council that ordered her assault.

Musharraf said he had received emails about Mai's case, which he said had deeply pained him.

Some of the emails had criticized the government for stopping Mai from traveling to the United States where she was due to attend a conference, Musharraf said.

He said he had taken the decision to stop her from going because he believed her attendance at the conference would have tarnished Pakistan's image rather than improved the lot of women.

Following protests from various quarters, including the U.S. government, a ban on her overseas travel was lifted and her passport was returned on Sunday.

"Mukhtaran Mai is free to go wherever she pleases, meet whoever she wants and say whatever she pleases. I have full faith in her patriotism," Musharraf said.

The president, who said he was an ardent advocate of women's rights, has been trying to project Pakistan as a moderate and progressive Muslim nation.

He said he wanted to make a contribution to highlighting injustices against women and offered to host an international conference on the problem.

"I would like to take the lead in organizing a conference inviting women victims from all over the world to present their ordeals and recommend remedial measures," he said.

"The government would ensure that such a conference will be representative of the different types of women victimization occurring all over the world rather then single out any one country." He did not propose a date for the conference.

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