"Perhaps the most difficult place for women in the world today is still Afghanistan," the President said on Tuesday.

On Monday, a representative of the Taliban met with a ranking State Department official to discuss how Afghanistan, which is facing United Nations sanctions, could improve its situation.

No accord was reached, but the contact suggested that the Taliban was at least willing to consider expelling Osma bin Laden, who is accused of masterminding attacks on two US Embassies in Africa.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright went so far as to suggest in a news conference that the ruling militia had a chance at being accorded regular treatment by nations around the world if it expelled bin Laden. But Albright also has denounced the Taliban for "despicable" repression ofwomen.

Since gaining power, the Taliban have forced women from jobs, closed schools for girls and made it mandatory for women to wear the all-enveloping Burqa. Women also are not allowed to travel without a male relative.

Clinton didn't address the bin Laden situation, but he made clear his disdain for the Taliban's treatment of women.