Taliban refuses to meet U.N. envoy

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 31 The Taliban said today that it will not meet the U.N. envoy to Afghanistan, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, because he ``is serving the interests of the United States.''

The Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, told a news conference here that the United Nations was indifferent to the U.S. ``atrocities'' and not neutral to the issues concerning Afghanistan.

``We will not meet him and let him interfere in the internal affairs of Afghanistan,'' Mullah Zaeef said. He claimed that Mr. Brahimi requested a meeting with the Taliban on October 26. The request was brought before the Taliban authorities, but it was turned down.

Earlier, Mr. Brahimi turned down a request by Mullah Zaeef for a meeting on the plea that he did not have the time.

Diplomatic and political observers here were, however, not convinced with the explanation over the inability of Mr. Brahimi to meet the ``only Taliban Ambassador in the world''. After all the U.N. envoy is here on a mission for discussions with a broad range of people about how to form an Afghan government.

Obviously, at this delicate juncture, the U.N. envoy does not want to give an impression of conferring any degree of legitimacy to the Taliban. The Taliban, on its part, had previously refused any dealings with U.N. peace envoys since the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on them in January for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden.

The United Nations has been dealing with the Taliban only in relation to the humanitarian work being undertaken by several U.N. and international aid agencies inside Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, the U.N. High Commissioner, Mr. Ruud Lubbers, called on the Taliban Ambassador here and brought to his notice the difficulties faced by the aid agencies. Mr. Ludders has not been able to persuade Pakistan to receive more refugees. Pakistan is not impressed with the arguments of the U.N. agencies in favour of opening its borders to let in Afghans fleeing the war zone.

In fact, Islamabad today made it a point to deny reports attributed to the UNHCR that Pakistan had agreed to let more Afghan refugees cross over. The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Mr. Aziz Mohammad Khan, maintained that there was no change in Islamabad policy of keeping its borders closed.

On Tuesday, when Mr. Ludders sought to stress the need to open the borders, the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, made it a point to mention the presence of three million Afghan refugees and inability of Pakistan to absorb any further inflow.

The Minister on Kashmir Affairs told Mr. Lubbers bluntly over a luncheon meeting that Pakistan should not be expected to be the sole torch-bearer. ``If the Western world feels hesitant to accommodate a few hundred Afghan refugees on its soil, why is Pakistan expected to open its borders to millions of new refugees without adequate financial back-up from donors,'' he asked.

The Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Mr. Vijay K. Nambiar, called on Mr. Brahimi and appraised him of the Indian viewpoint on the situation in Afghanistan.

He told Mr. Brahimi that India favoured formation of a `broad- based and multi-ethnic' government to replace the Taliban militia. New Delhi did not subscribe to the idea of accommodation of `moderate' Taliban in the proposed set-up in Kabul. He also briefed him about the efforts being made by India to contribute to the humanitarian effort within Afghanistan.

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Section  : International
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