UN processing Taliban request to address 76th General Assembly, accredit new perm rep

In its drive for legitimacy, The Taliban has made two moves that now got the UN in a strait.

According to UN spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received a communique on September 15 from the currently accredited Afghan ambassador, Ghulam Isaczai, with the list of Afghanistan’s delegation for the assembly’s 76th annual session.

Guterres, however, received another communication with the letterhead Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, signed by Ameer Khan Muttaqi as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The letter was requesting participation in the UN 76^th General Assembly.

It also stated Isaczai last represented Afghanistan when former President Ashraf Ghani, who fled on August 15, 2021, was in power.

So the Taliban nominated Mohammad Suhail Shaheen as the new permanent UN representative.

An official from the panel told the Associated Press under strict condition of anonymity that the UN committee “would take some time to deliberate on that.

Which means 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.

The committee’s members include the United States, Russia, China, Bahama, Bhutan, Chile, Namibia, Sierra Leone, and Sweden.