National Geographic finds Afghan girl

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Seventeen years ago, an Afghan girl orphaned and living in a refugee camp appeared on the cover of National Geographic, her eyes big and green, a red scarf draped loosely over her hair.

Now, the magazine says it has tracked down the subject of that famous photo, a wife and mother living in a remote part of Afghanistan, and will once again feature her in its April issue focusing on the plight of refugees.

The girl, whose parents had been killed by bombing during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, was photographed in 1984 at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Pakistan by Steve McCurry.

She was believed to be about 13 at the time, said Geographic spokeswoman Ellen Siskind, which would make her 29 or 30 now.

Sharbat Gula married shortly after the 1984 picture was taken and has had four girls, one of whom died as an infant. A Pashtun, she had never seen her famous photo, the magazine said.

The original photograph also was on the cover of a best-selling special edition that National Geographic published last fall of its 100 best photographs over the years.

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