UNITED STATES. New York: United Nations (UN) said that the Afghan insurgent group Taliban are challenging the credentials of their country’s former UN ambassador. The Taliban now wants to speak at the General Assembly’s high-level meeting of world leaders scheduled this week.
The Taliban stunned the world by capturing Afghanistan with little resistance from the US-trained Afghan military. Taliban which was once ejected from Afghanistan by the United States and its allies after 9/11 swept back into power after US forces’ withdrawal from the country. The western-backed Afghan government collapsed on August 15.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received a list of Afghanistan’s delegation for the assembly from Afghan Ambassador Ghulam Isaczai on September 15.
“Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was ousted as of August 15. Countries across the world no longer recognize him as president, and therefore Isaczai no longer represents Afghanistan,” Dujarric said.
Five days later, Guterres received another communication with the letterhead Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, signed by Ameer Khan Muttaqi as requesting to participate in the UN General Assembly of world leaders.
Meanwhile, the Taliban said that it was nominating a new UN permanent representative, Mohammad Suhail Shaheen for the assembly. Shaheen has been a spokesman for the Taliban during peace negotiations in Qatar.
Both letters have been sent to the committee after 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.
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Meanwhile, the UN committee would take some time to deliberate, suggesting the Taliban’s envoy would not be able to speak at the General Assembly at this session at least during the high-level leaders’ week. In cases of disputes over seats at the United Nations, the General Assembly’s nine-member credentials committee must meet to make a decision. Afghanistan is scheduled to give the last speech on the final day of the high-level meeting on September 27.
