The Taliban’s new foreign minister has requested to speak to global leaders at the United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York, only days after taking over the reins of Afghanistan.
The Taliban, in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, nominated senior political leader Suhail Shaheen to be the country’s ambassador to the United Nations.
Meanwhile, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Foreign Minister of the new Afghan government, has requested that the UN Secretary-General speak at the annual high-level meeting of the General Assembly. According to reports, the previous Afghan UN ambassador’s credentials have been called into question by the current Afghan government.
UN authorities are currently deciding which delegate from the war-torn nation will be recognised by the organisation. Ghulam Isaczai, Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United Nations, sent a communication to the secretary-general of the organisation, according to Stephane Dujarric, the organization’s spokesperson. The communication contained a list of Afghanistan’s delegation to the annual session, according to Dujarric.
Around five days later, he got another letter, this time signed by the new Afghan leadership, in which they asked to be allowed to join in UN activities.
The letter claimed that former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani had been deposed and that nations all around the globe no longer recognised him as president, and that he no longer represented Afghanistan in international affairs.
The neighbouring nation is due to speak on the last day of the high-level conference, which is planned for September 27, but it is uncertain if the committee will meet before the conclusion of the convocation on Monday, which is slated for September 28.
According to US officials, they were aware of the Taliban’s request, but they would not predict the committee’s decision. However, officials stated that the committee would take some time to deliberate, implying that the Taliban’s representative would not be able to speak at the general assembly during this session.
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