Laili Helms was the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

's best-known advocate in the West before the 9/11 attacks. Following the attacks, ''The New York Times'' described Helms, who is married to a nephew of the former

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

director

Richard Helms Richard McGarrah Helms (March 30, 1913 – October 23, 2002) was an American government official and diplomat who served as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from 1966 to 1973. Helms began intelligence work with the Office of Strategic Ser ...

, as the Taliban's "unofficial liaison to the West". Helms argued that the Taliban had restored order and security to Afghanistan, that some reports of their human rights abuses were exaggerated, and that they did not support

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

but were constrained in dealing with him by ''

nanawatai Nənawā́te ( ps, ننواتې, "sanctuary") is a tenet of the Pashtunwali code of the Pashtun people. It allows a beleaguered person to enter the house of any other person and make a request of him which cannot be refused, even at the cost of the ...

'' and Afghan public opinion. After 9/11 she told reporters that she no longer supported the Taliban and had attempted to privately steer them toward more moderate policies. Helms was not personally religious. Helms was born in Kabul. Her family was part of Afghanistan's elite; both her grandfathers were ministers in the government of King

Mohammad Zahir Shah Mohammed Zahir Shah (Pashto/Dari: , 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan s ...

. When she was a child her family moved to Paris and then, when she was three, to New Jersey. They returned to Kabul when she was nine, and moved back to New Jersey when she was a teenager. She attended

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

, where she studied psychology and communications. In the 1980s she became an activist against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, becoming the director of the NGO Friends of Afghanistan at the age of 22. In 1988, she and her husband moved to Peshawar to become aid workers. She visited Afghanistan for the first time since childhood in 1992; she said later that the chaos she saw there led her to support the return of law and order represented by the Taliban. Helms first met a representative of the Taliban in 1996, at a "conference of rival Afghan groups" organized in Washington by

Hank Brown George Hanks "Hank" Brown (born February 12, 1940) is an American politician and lawyer from Colorado. He is a former Republican politician and U.S. Senator. He served as the 21st president of the University of Colorado system from April 2005 to ...

, a former U.S. Senator. During the Taliban's time in power she defended them on television shows like ''Dateline'' and helped Taliban officials visit the US and meet with American officials. In one 1999 television appearance she explained that she supported the Taliban despite their atrocities "Because there's nothing else in Afghanistan." After 9/11 she was the target of threats and hate mail. In October 2001 she told a journalist, "I am horrified by what has happened and do not support the Taliban's resistance in handing over the terrorists." Subsequently, she stopped giving interviews.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helms, Laili Living people American people of Afghan descent Year of birth missing (living people)