The UN Secretary-General said the special envoys discussed “creating the conditions to ensure the participation of Afghanistan’s de facto authorities in an upcoming meeting.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that the special envoys for Afghanistan hoped to see the participation of the Taliban in future meetings, after rejecting a challenge to them to take part in the one that concluded in the Qatari capital. .
Mr Guterres said during a press conference that the special envoys discussed “creating the conditions to ensure the participation of the de facto authorities of Afghanistan in an upcoming meeting”, after they refused to participate in the two-day session organized in Doha .
Since the Taliban recaptured power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the international community has not reached a unified approach towards them.
The UN has extended an invitation to the Taliban regime to participate, having ruled it out at the first meeting in May.
However, the de facto government in Kabul made it clear that it would not take part in the talks unless it was Afghanistan’s sole representative in the proceedings, thereby excluding civil society organisations.
A second demand was for a delegation of the Taliban government to meet with the UN Secretary General and be given the opportunity to present their positions.
Mr Guterres said he had received a series of conditions from the Taliban to join – conditions that were “not acceptable”.
“These conditions deprived us, above all, of the right to speak with other representatives of Afghan society,” he noted, while he claimed treatment that purported to be “recognized.”
The de facto government of the Taliban in Kabul has not been officially recognized by any government at the international level. Since regaining power, the fundamentalist Sunni movement has imposed an extremely strict version of Islamic law and women have been discriminated against with laws the UN has labeled “gender apartheid”.
In response, governments, international organizations and humanitarian organizations cut or greatly reduced their funding to Afghanistan, dealing a heavy blow to the country’s already struggling economy.
“One of our main goals is to get out of this impasse,” Mr. Guterres pointed out.
Source :Skai
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