Official request rejected: Taliban not allowed to speak at UN debate

Sunday, September 26, 2021

The official request was rejected
The Taliban were not allowed to speak at the UN debate

Who represents Afghanistan in the United Nations? This is what the Taliban want to do in Monday’s public debate. But your request did not succeed. It is not yet clear who will speak for the country in New York in the future.

Despite their pleas, the Taliban are unlikely to appear in public at the UN General Assembly. Ghulam Ischai, the former ambassador to the United Nations, is the official registered envoy to Afghanistan on Monday. This was announced by UN spokesman Stephen Dujarric.

After taking power in Afghanistan, the extremist Islamist Taliban applied to the UN to officially represent the country on the UN platform – with a speech in the current public debate and the appointment of a dedicated ambassador to replace Issa. The decision is now up to the responsible UN accreditation body. So far, however, no scheduled meeting of the organization has taken place, which is why the former ambassador to Afghanistan has retained his office, at least temporarily.

The panel includes representatives from the nine member states of the United States, Russia, China, Sweden, Namibia, the Bahamas, Bhutan, Sierra Leone and Chile – and decides which countries ‘leaderships and which countries’ leaderships are recognized by the United Nations. In practice, the group is dominated by Washington, Moscow and Beijing.

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in mid-August. Former President Ashraf Ghani has previously left the country. Germany, the United States and other Western countries negotiate with them, but do not recognize them as legitimate governments.