Campaigners welcome Hamid Karzai's intervention on domestic abuse law --- The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has blocked a law that would silence victims of domestic violence, forced marriage and child abuse and demanded major revisions after a campaign by Afghan activists and western diplomats. -- The legislation bans relatives from testifying against each other, and in a country where forensic evidence is relatively undeveloped, that would effectively halt prosecution in even the most vicious cases of violence against women, including those mutilated by their husbands or attacked by brothers and fathers. -- The provision was inserted into a new criminal prosecution code, much needed and years in the making, at the last minute. It was steered through parliament by a prominent opponent of women's rights, and conservative MPs resisted efforts to moderate the strict controls. -- They apparently also had backing from some sections of government; early on Monday, a justice ministry official told the Guardian that western embassies had simply "misunderstood" the law, and that he expected the confusion be be resolved soon and without any changes needed. -- But just a few hours later, a cabinet meeting chaired by Karzai ordered alterations to the brief section of the law causing the problems, his spokeswoman Adela Raz said. "At the meeting, His Excellency the President, and the cabinet, decided that article 26 needs to be amended." -- She declined to say how the law would be altered, but the public repudiation of what would have been a devastating step backwards for Afghan women was welcomed by activists and diplomats. They had mounted a vigorous lobbying campaign, both in public and behind the scenes, since the legislation first came to light earlier this month. - More, Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul - Guardian