Kabul to seek UN action against state sponsors of terror

Посол Афганистана в ООН Махмуд Сайкал и генеральный секретарь ООН Бан Ки-мун

WASHINGTON (Pajhwok): Afghanistan is preparing a set of proposals for action against state actors violating the UN Security Council resolution on the Taliban and Al Qaeda and aiding terrorism in the war-torn country.

In an exclusive interview, a top diplomat told Pajhwok Afghan News: “There are people within state structures, in particular within the security apparatus, who believe in the use of violence in pursuit of political objectives.”

Afghan Ambassador to UN Mahmoud Saikal said: “I feel that the UN resolutions are not strong enough to target these people and to really stop them from what they are doing.”

Saikal, who was in Washington DC last week to meet senior US administration officials, said both UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions allowed chasing the Taliban leaders.

“But certain individual within the state structure, who orchestrate the biggest show of terrorism in our region and around the world, are let free,” Saikal said. By state he meant countries that he refused to identify.

“And also some of the retirees, who are probably twice as active as those in office, do what they want. They appear in London, they appear in Washington DC and they call on audiences to clap for the success of the Taliban.

“If this is what they do publicly, only God knows what they do in secret,” he said, referring to supporters of the Taliban in the region and their activities.

The UN Security Council and General Assembly resolution goes close to taking action against such people and organisations, but they are not strong enough and needs strengthening, according to the ambassador.

“We hope that in 2016, we would be presenting some proposals to the members of the Security Council, and of course within the Security Council it is the P5, that matters a lot. So we need to talk to them,” Saikal said, without elaborating.

There were a number of resolutions on counterterrorism and resolutions against the Taliban, Al Qaeda and ISIL, he said, adding they nicely drafted.

“They are comprehensive, they cover wide aspects of terrorism. What is important is the implementation of these resolutions. We feel its implementation is not as strong as it should be. The time has come that we focus on its real implementation,” Saikal insisted.

“We have to make sure the countries present reports to the UN Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate and those reports must be checked thoroughly. The authenticity of those reports, in particularly of the countries in our region, has to be ensured.”

Countries in the region must make sure they had annual reports to the satisfaction of the counter-terrorism directorate of the Security Council, Saikal stressed.

He, however, refused to name the country that did not follow or implement the UN Security resolutions on terrorism and associated sanctions regime.

“So any country dealing with violent extremism and terrorism must be obliged to present a comprehensive report about the implementation of the Security Council resolutions,” he remarked.

The diplomat claimed terrorists and violent extremists were taking advantage of the negative inter-state rivalry. In the heat of this negative rivalry, some countries) had adopted policies to do with violence in pursuit of political objectives, he alleged.

“I am just saying there could be one country developing this anxiety, this sensitivity, this obsession with rivalry with another country and in the process we have suffered.”

He called for minimising negative inter-state rivalry and maximising focus on counterterrorism. “This is the case in our region and this is the case in the Middle East as well.”

Saikal believed the UN resolutions related to Afghanistan were not strong enough to take action against government bodies and officials supporting or promoting terrorism.

By Lalit K Jha
Pajhwok.

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