Amrullah Saleh, ousted Vice President of the previous Afghanistan regime, has welcomed the UN Credentials Committee move not to recognise Taliban’s nominee as Permanent representative in the global body.
“The Afghan seat in the UN stays with the legitimate and constitutionally mandated representatives of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,” tweeted Saleh.
He further wrote : “We applaud and welcome the decision of the UN’s Credentials Committee and see it as a step for healing the massive wounds inflicted upon the Afghan”.
The key United Nations panel has decided to defer its decision on requests by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and Myanmar’s military junta to take their countries’ seats at the UN.
The permanent representative of the ‘democratically-elected’ erstwhile government of Afghanistan Ghulam Isaczai has received a sort of temporary reprieve.
This is seen as a clear setback to both the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the military junta in Myanmar.
“Resistance in various forms & ways continues throughout the country in which the Afghan women have been most vocal and in forefront. Talibs not only haven’t changed but have become more arrogant and brutal in dealing with wider Afghan society,” Saleh wrote in another missive.
Saleh still calls himself Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
By September 6-7, Saleh left Afghanistan and initially moved to Tajikistan.
Following the August 15, 2021 fall of Kabul and after the then President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, Saleh had relocated to the Panjshir Valley. He announced the formation of the National Resistance Front to give last minute resistance to the Taliban.
Myanmar’s military junta has said that previous ‘permanent representative’ Kyaw Moe Yun has been dismissed.
Both Kyaw and previous Afghan regime nominee Ghulam Isaczai have asked for ‘renewal’ of their accreditation.
Kyaw Moe Yun, much to the embarrassment of the military rulers in Myanmar, has opposed the coup against Suu Kyi.
Myanmar’s military seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in February. The United States, Sweden, Russia, China, Bahamas, Bhutan, Chile, Namibia and Sierra Leone are other countries on the credentials committee.
Sweden’s Permanent Representative Anna Karin Enestrom, who heads the committee, told reporters that it decided “to defer its decision of the credentials” of the two countries.
The Taliban want to replace the ambassador representing the former Afghan government, Ghulam Isaczai.
Mohammad Suhail Shaheen, who served as a Taliban spokesman, has been nominated by the new regime to the UN.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August. Even Taliban friendly countries including China and Pakistan are yet to recognise the Taliban government formally in a diplomatic sense.