Taliban has asked to address the UN General Assembly.

The Taliban wants to speak at the United Nations’ General Assembly representing Afghanistan this week, says the International body.  Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations spokesperson said a communication has been received by the Secretary General Antonio Guterres on September 15th from Ghulam Isaczai, the Afghan Ambassador who is currently accredited. I contained a list of delegations from Afghanistan for the 76th annual session of the UN assembly.

Another letter was received five days later with a letterhead ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs’, requesting to participate in the General Assembly of United Nations, which was signed by Ameer Khan Muttaqi, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The letter conveyed that the world no longer recognises Ashraf Ghani as the president anymore since the former president was ousted on August 15th and therefore Isaczai does not represent Afghanistan anymore. Dujarric said that the Taliban nominated a new UN permanent representative, Mohammed Suhail Shaheen, who has been a spokesman for Taliban during peace negotiations in Qatar.

The US State Department officials said that they were aware of Taliban’s request, but they would not predict the panels decision. They suggested that Taliban envoy would not be able to speak at the UN General Assembly this week. Both the letters from Taliban had been sent to the nine-member credential committee of the General Assembly, after consultations with General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid’s office. The nine members of the committee are China, Russia, Bhutan, Chile, Namibia, Bahama, Sierra Leone, Sweden and United States.

When the Taliban took over power in Afghanistan in 1996 to 2001, UN refused to recognise Taliban government and Afghanistan’s seat was given to Burhanuddin Rabbani’s government which was the previous warlord-dominated government of Afghanistan. It was Rabbani’s government who brought Osama Bin Laden to Afghanistan from Sudan in 1996 and Rabbani was killed by a suicide bomber in 2011.

Taliban had demanded international recognition and financial aids to restore the country from war-battered condition. But several of the Taliban ministers are on UN’s blacklist of international terrorists and funders of terrorism. UN could use Taliban recognition as a hold to pressurise Afghanistan to form an inclusive government that guarantees human rights and especially women’s rights.