UN: Afghanistan’s Taliban want to address General Assembly

UNITED NATIONS — Who should correspond Afghanistan astatine the United Nations this month? It’s a analyzable question with plentifulness of governmental implications.

The Taliban, the country’s caller rulers for a substance of weeks, are challenging the credentials of their country’s erstwhile U.N. ambassador and privation to talk astatine the General Assembly’s high-level gathering of satellite leaders this week, the planetary assemblage says.

The question present facing U.N. officials comes conscionable implicit a period aft the Taliban, ejected from Afghanistan by the United States and its allies aft 9/11, swept backmost into powerfulness arsenic U.S. forces prepared to retreat from the state astatine the extremity of August. The Taliban stunned the satellite by taking territory with astonishing velocity and small absorption from the U.S.-trained Afghan military. The Western-backed authorities collapsed connected Aug. 15.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received a connection connected Sept. 15 from the presently accredited Afghan Ambassador, Ghulam Isaczai, with the database of Afghanistan’s delegation for the assembly’s 76th yearly session.

Five days later, Guterres received different connection with the letterhead “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” signed by “Ameer Khan Muttaqi” arsenic “Minister of Foreign Affairs,” requesting to enactment successful the U.N. gathering of satellite leaders.

Muttaqi said successful the missive that erstwhile Afghan president Ashraf Ghani was “ousted” arsenic of Aug. 15 and that countries crossed the satellite “no longer admit him arsenic president,” and truthful Isaczai nary longer represents Afghanistan, Dujarric said.

The Taliban said it was nominating a caller U.N. imperishable representative, Mohammad Suhail Shaheen, the U.N. spokesperson said. He has been a spokesperson for the Taliban during bid negotiations successful Qatar.

Senior U.S. State Department officials said they were alert of the Taliban’s petition — the United States is simply a subordinate of the U.N. credentials committee — but they would not foretell however that sheet mightiness rule. However, 1 of the officials said the committee “would instrumentality immoderate clip to deliberate,” suggesting the Taliban’s envoy would not beryllium capable to talk astatine the General Assembly astatine this league astatine slightest during the high-level leaders’ week.

In cases of disputes implicit seats astatine the United Nations, the General Assembly’s nine-member credentials committee indispensable conscionable to marque a decision. Both letters person been sent to the committee aft consultations with General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid’s office. The committee’s members are the United States, Russia, China, Bahama, Bhutan, Chile, Namibia, Sierra Leone and Sweden.

Afghanistan is scheduled to springiness the past code connected the last time of the high-level gathering connected Sept. 27. It wasn’t wide who would talk if the committee met and the Taliban were fixed Afghanistan’s seat.

When the Taliban past ruled from 1996 to 2001, the U.N. refused to admit their authorities and alternatively gave Afghanistan’s spot to the previous, warlord-dominated authorities of President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who yet was killed by a termination bomber successful 2011. It was Rabbani’s authorities that brought Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of 9/11, to Afghanistan from Sudan successful 1996.

The Taliban person said they privation planetary designation and fiscal assistance to rebuild the war-battered country. But the constitution of the caller Taliban authorities poses a dilemma for the United Nations. Several of the interim ministers are connected the U.N.’s alleged blacklist of planetary terrorists and funders of terrorism.

Credentials committee members could besides usage Taliban designation arsenic leverage to property for a much inclusive authorities that guarantees quality rights, particularly for girls who were barred from going to schoolhouse during their erstwhile rule, and women who weren’t capable to work.

___

Kathy Gannon successful Kabul, Afghanistan, and Matthew Lee successful New York contributed to this report.