Cherie Blair holds her hands to her eyes yesterday as she chats to Afghan women about the all-covering burkha dress.

The Prime Minister's wife was hosting a gathering of women refugees at Downing Street.

Mrs Blair called on the world community to help the women of the war-ravaged country win back the human rights they had lost under the Taliban.

"The women here today prove that the women of Afghanistan still have a spirit that belies their unfair, down-trodden image," she said.

"We need to help them free that spirit and give them their voice back, so they can create the better Afghanistan we all want to see."