Kabul, July 12: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is reportedly trying to put pressure on the United Nations to remove 50 former Taliban officials from a terrorist list.
The Washington Post, citing an unnamed senior Afghan official, reported on Sunday that Karzai plans to reach a political agreement with the militants to end a nearly nine-year-old war in his country.
The diplomatic initiative has faced “resistance from UN officials, who are demanding more evidence that the individuals in question have renounced violence, embraced the new Afghan constitution and severed any links with the Taliban and al-Qaeda,” the Post said.
There has been no comment from the Afghan government on this report.
The UN has imposed a travel ban and other restrictions on 137 Taliban-lined figures.
The United States, however, is backing Karzai’s diplomatic outreach to the militants.
The paper added that US President Barack Obama’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, last Tuesday held talks with UN officials in New York to put pressure on them to delist the former Taliban officials.
“The US opposes the delisting of some of the most violent Taliban fighters, including leader Mohammad Omar. But Holbrooke is eager to reach agreement on removing a slate of purportedly reformed Taliban members ahead of a major international conference in Kabul this month that is aimed at bolstering stability in Afghanistan,” the Post said.
The Taliban were toppled in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by US-led forces.
The invasion of Afghanistan was launched with the official objective of curbing militancy and bringing peace and stability to the country. Nine years on, however, Afghanistan remains largely unstable with innocent civilians continuing to pay the heaviest price.
——-Agencies