Taliban unlikely to participate in UNGA; diplomats of ousted govt still in office

The Taliban which now rule Afghanisshytan after overthrowing the electedgovernment of President Ashraf Ghani are unlikely to represent their country at the highlevel United Nations General Assembly session as representatives of the ousted dispensation still occupy the office at the UN a Pakistani media report said on ThursdayAfghanistan is scheduled to address the ongoing UN General Assembly session on September 27On September 20 the Talibancontrolled Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres requesting him to participate in the 76th UNGA session in New YorkIt was signed by Taliban leader Ameer Khan Muttaqi as the new Afghan foreign ministerA week ago on September 15 Guterres had received a letter from the currently accredited Afghan ambassador Ghulam Isaczai stating that he and other members of his team still occupying the Afghan mission at the United Nations will represent Afghanistan in UNGAOn Tuesday they attended the UNGA session addressed by US President Joe BidenThey will continue to occupy the mission until the credentials committee takes a decisioniquest a diplomatic source was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaperUN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has confirmed receiving both the lettersAlso read Taliban write to UN chief nominating spokesman Shaheen as Afghan envoy ask for participation at UNGAIn his letter Taliban leader Muttaqi said that Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani was ousted on August 15 and therefore his envoy no longer represents Afghanistan according to DujarricThe UNGAs ninemember credentials committee which makes such decisions is unlikely to meet before September 27 and even if it did it cannot settle the dispute in the remaining two or three days the newspaper saidIt said that Guterres office has sent both the letters to the committee after consultations with General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid of the MaldivesThe current members of the committee include the US Russia China Bahamas Bhutan Chile Namibia Sierra Leone and SwedenThe US was in no rush to endorse the Talibans request for joining the UN as the legitimate Afghan government the report saidAccording to senior US State Department officials they were aware of the Talibans request but the deliberations iquestwould take some timeiquest indicating that theTaliban representative would not address the UNGA on September 27One possibility however is not to allow Afghanistans current ambassador to address the gathering either because that would indicate support for the previous government and would have wideranging repercussions the report saidBut the former Afghan government still has support within the UN and apparently India is leading the campaign to let its envoy address the General AssemblyAllowing a Taliban leader to address the General Assembly would be interpreted as the United Nations recognising the new arrangement in Kabul and the UN is not yet ready to do that the report saidWhen the Taliban last ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 the UN did not recognise their government and gave Afghanistans seat to the previous government of then president Burhanuddin Rabbani instead it saidAccording to the US media this time the UN could be lenient to the Taliban but only if they form a more inclusive government guarantee human rights allow girls to return to schools and women to go to workMeanwhile Acting Afghan Prime Minister Mullah Hassan Akhund in a meeting with the special envoys from Pakistan China and Russia in Kabul on Tuesday has assured them to work towards meeting the international demands including the formation of an inclusive government protecting women and human rights The Express Tribune newspaper reportedThe Taliban agreed that they have to include members of all ethnicities in the government as they were of the view that Afghanistan is for everyoneiquest the report said adding that the special envoys were also told that there would be no restriction on the girls education but that would be done as per ShariaThe report said that the Taliban leaders were mindful of the fact that they had to work with the international community and that was the reason they were willing to address the concerns of the outside worldThe Taliban requested China and Russia for their support for efforts for the unfreezing of foreign reserves The US has frozen around USD 95 billion foreign reserves of Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever