UNITED NATIONS: Members of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) remained divided over whether to exempt some of Afghanistan’s Taliban officials from a travel ban, diplomatic sources said. Under a 2011 Security Council resolution, 135 Taliban leaders are subject to a sanctions regime that includes asset freezes and travel bans.

Thirteen of them benefited from an exemption from travel ban, renewed regularly, to allow them to meet officials from other countries abroad. But this exemption ended last Friday, after Ireland objected to its automatic renewal for another month. In June, Sanctions Committee in charge of Afghanistan, comprised of Security Council’s 15 members, had already removed from exemptions list two Taliban ministers responsible for education, in retaliation for the drastic reduction in rights of women and girls that was imposed by Islamist regime.

Several Western countries would like to further reduce list, according to diplomatic sources. They highlight failure to respect commitments to uphold human rights or fight terrorism that were made by Taliban when they returned to power a year ago. Pending a possible decision, none of Taliban officials on sanctions list can travel.

That was of particular concern to Taliban’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, who has visited Qatar several times in recent months for diplomatic discussions and who was among 13 exemptions. In a statement posted on Twitter, a foreign ministry spokesman called on Security Council “not to use sanctions as pressure tool” and said all sanctions against Taliban officials should be lifted.

Published in The Daily National Courier, August, 24 2022

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