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UN Security Council members are divided Monday over whether to exempt some Afghan Taliban officials from a travel ban, diplomatic sources said.
In the year In 2011, Security Council Resolution 135 imposed sanctions on Taliban leaders that included asset freezes and travel bans.
13 of them have been exempted from the travel ban, which is renewed regularly, allowing them to visit other officials from abroad.
But that exemption ended last Friday after Ireland objected to its automatic renewal for another month.
In June, the Security Council’s 15-member Afghanistan Sanctions Committee already removed two Taliban ministers in charge of education from the list of freedoms in retaliation for reducing the rights of women and girls. Strong Islamic rule.
Diplomatic sources say several Western countries want to reduce the list further.
When the Taliban returned to power a year ago, they highlighted their failure to honor promises made to uphold human rights or fight terrorism.
Earlier this month, the United States announced the death of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Kabul, calling into question the Taliban’s pledge not to allow insurgent groups.
China and Russia, however, supported the formal extension of the exemption list.
Last week, the president of China’s Security Council told Taliban officials that linking human rights to travel issues was “abhorrent,” saying “these freedoms are still important.”
Since last week and again on Monday, several compromise proposals to more or less reduce the list of officials involved or the number of authorized destinations have been rejected by both sides, diplomatic sources said.
Discussions are expected to continue.
Pending a possible decision, none of the Taliban officials on the sanctions list can travel.
This was of particular concern to Amir Khan Muttaki, the Taliban’s foreign minister, who has visited Qatar several times in recent months for diplomatic talks and is among the 13 independents.
In a statement posted on Twitter on Saturday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman called on the Security Council to “not use sanctions as a pressure tool” and said all sanctions against Taliban officials should be lifted.
“If the travel ban is extended, it will create distance rather than promote dialogue and participation, which must be prevented,” the spokesperson said.
abd/jh/mlm
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