ISLAMABAD – Spokesman for Taliban political office in Doha, Suhail Shaheen has confirmed that he has been designated as Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan’s envoy to the United Nations and asked the world body to immediately give the opportunity to the IEA to speak in the ongoing UNGA session in New York.
“It’s the right of Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan (IEA) to represent Afghanistan in the United Nations and speak there as the voice of the Afghan people,” Suhail Shaheen told The Nation in an exclusive interview over phone from Doha.
“The UN must give opportunity to IEA so that they could speak in the ongoing session”, Shaheen remarked. Diplomatic sources confirmed the UN secretary general has received a letter from the IEA government but no response has been given.
UNGA urged to allow Taliban to address ongoing session
Answering a question, Shaheen said there is no terrorism threat from Afghanistan as the IEA government has warned all terrorist groups to abandon their terrorist activities immediately and do not use afghan soil for such acts.
On the issue of inclusive government, Shaheen said the IEA would like to give more representation to other ethnic groups in the near future.
When asked, he said he had read a tweet of the Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding his initiative for a dialogue for making the Afghan government more inclusive. “We welcome PM Imran Khan’s statement, but there is no progress on it yet,” Suhail Shaheen said.