UN-Afghan Tiff Over Contacts with Taliban
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 26 (OneWorld) - Intense diplomatic efforts are continuing in Afghanistan to prevent the expulsion of a senior UN official accused of engaging in talks with leaders of the Taliban. "We believe that there is no basis for such a decision and that this is a result of a misunderstanding with the Afghan authorities," UN chief Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Yves SoroKobi told OneWorld Wednesday. Sorokobi confirmed that the UN official, Mervyn Patterson, has been asked to leave the country, but denied reports that he had met with Taliban leaders in the southern province of Helmand. "This was not the case," he said. "The main purpose of the visit was to discuss and bolster stabilization efforts in Helmand, following recent military operations to liberate the province from Taliban." Patterson, a British national, was accompanied by the acting head of the European Union (EU) mission in Afghanistan, Irishman Michael Semple, when the alleged meeting with Taliban leadership took place in Helmand Monday. Soon after the meeting, the government of President Hamid Karzai described the talks as "detrimental to national security" and ordered the two officials to leave the country by Thursday. Tensions over Patterson's actions may reflect differences of opinion between the British and Afghan governments over the extent to which the Taliban should be involved in efforts to achieve peace in Afghanistan. UN officials acknowledged the two officials were together when the meeting took place, but said they only talked to "the local authorities and community representatives," not the Taliban. Helmand is known for a heavy Taliban presence and abundance of poppy crops used for manufacturing of heroin, which ends up in drug market across Europe. The two men had gone to a town called Musa Qala, which was recently reclaimed from the Taliban by British and Afghan troops. Observers say despite the heavy international military presence, the poppy business has been a primary reason for the Taliban's resurgence in the south of the country. Last year, the International Narcotic Control Board described Afghanistan as "the world's leading illicit producer of opium,' with one-third of its economy dependent on opium trade. Both the UN and the EU have been playing a major role in the eradication program, but largely failed to achieve any positive results. On Tuesday, a spokesman for the UN in Kabul said the diplomats' meeting was aimed at engaging all people on the ground to help the country's stability. The pro-U.S. Karzai government in Kabul has acknowledged that reconciliation is essential for peace, but appears to be selective in reaching out to Taliban leaders, many of whom are reportedly backed by certain elements in Pakistan's military establishment. Reports from the region suggest the interior ministry in Kabul knew that Patterson was going to Helmand, but other officials of the Afghan government objected to the type of people they were meeting. According to Britain's "Daily Telegraph," prior to Patterson's reported talks in Helmand, members of Britain's secret intelligence service, MI 6, held meetings during the summer with senior Taliban members in Afghanistan. Observers say this could prove embarrassing for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who recently told the British Parliament that there would be no negotiations with members of the Taliban. "[We are] winning the battle against the insurgency" in Afghanistan, Brown told members of the Parliament about two weeks ago, adding that the coalition partners were "isolating and eliminating the leadership of the Taliban." But, in the same speech, he also backed the Afghan government's moves towards "political reconciliation" with ex-insurgents and urged Karzai to press ahead with "targeted eradication" policies against the poppy crop in Helmand. More than 400 US troops and over 80 British soldiers have been killed since the US and its allies intervened in Afghanistan in October 2001. There is no reliable record of civilian casualties, but it is widely believed that many thousands of innocent people have lost their lives as a result of aerial bombing and crossfire between NATO forces and the Taliban. ....................................................................................
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