(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 30 - A pregnant New Zealand journalist was welcomed by the Taliban in Kabul after her country did not authorize her to return from Qatar due to the huge anti-Covid crisis.
Charlotte Bellis, this is the name of the reporter who told her "brutally ironic" story at the New Zealand Herald, in August had worked in Afghanistan for Al Jazeera along with her partner, the Belgian photographer Jim Huylebroek.
She returned to the Doha headquarters in September when she realized she was pregnant.
Being illegal in Qatar to wait for a child without being married, the journalist decided to return to New Zealand but the strict anti-Covid regulations imposed in her country prevented her entry.
At that point she and her partner moved to Belgium but as she did not have a residence permit, she was unable to stay.
The only other country for which the couple had a visa was Afghanistan and so Charlotte decided to turn to her contacts among Taliban officials.
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Bellis, who is expected to give birth to a baby girl in May, has not yet been able to return to New Zealand but said telling her story speeded up the process of admission.
New Zealand's Covid Emergency Minister ChrisHipkins has asked for an investigation on her case.
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