Afghan Taliban’s bid for UN seat rejected

A powerful United Nations panel, which approves the accreditation of diplomats to the UN system, has refused to assign the Afghan Taliban a seat at the world body.

This was the third time a 9-member UN credential committee rejected a request by the interim Afghanistan government to assign a seat to its representative at the UN.

After the takeover in August 2021, the interim Taliban government moved the UN requesting it to assign its representative a seat in New York.

The Taliban government appointed Suhail Shaheen, former spokesperson of the Taliban political office in Doha, as permanent representative of the UN in New York.

The UN panel received two correspondences regarding the Afghanistan seat from the permanent representative of the former Afghan government and the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry.

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The committee comprises three permanent members of the UNSC including Russia, China and the US. The committee met in New York on Tuesday and decided not to approve the Taliban nominee, citing the interim government’s lack of international recognition.

 The move is seen as a setback for the Taliban efforts seeking international recognition. This means Nasir Amad Faiq, who was appointed by the Ghani administration, would continue to represent Afghanistan at the UN.

The UN stressed that for recognition, the Taliban must fulfill commitments made with the international community including women’s rights, form an inclusive government and adhere to international obligations.

A diplomatic source told The Express Tribune there was a 9-member credential committee that vets and approves the accreditation of the diplomats to the UN system.

“It has three permanent members namely US, Russia and China where the US holds much sway,” the source explained. 

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In case a government is toppled as was the case in Afghanistan, the diplomats accredited to the UN will continue to enjoy diplomatic status and privileges unless they are replaced or their diplomatic status is withdrawn. 

“With specific reference to Afghanistan, their Permanent Representative left the UN and there is one Counselor-level person Faiq who claims to represent Afghanistan but has been disowned by the Taliban government,” according to the source.

“The credential committee has not decided on his fate so far despite meeting twice. Since the Taliban government has not been recognised internationally, therefore, its stance on Faiq has not been accepted,” the source further elaborated.

Pakistan previously was keen that the seat might be assigned to the Afghan Taliban representative but with the current state of their tension relationship, Islamabad would no longer support this policy.

“We would go with the international community,” said a source, meaning without international consensus there won’t be any recognition for the Taliban regime.