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Taliban ask to address UN General Assembly
The ambassador of the Afghan government ousted by the Taliban last month has also requested to speak, with the UN yet to decide who will represent the country at the world body.
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Taliban negotiator Suhail Shaheen attends a press conference in Moscow on July 9, 2021. Russia on July 9, 2021 said the Taliban controls about two-thirds of the Afghan-Tajik border and urged all sides in Afghanistan to show restraint.
(AFP/Dimitar DILKOFF )
T
he Taliban's new foreign minister has asked to address world leaders at this week's United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, a UN spokesman said Tuesday.
The ambassador of the Afghan government ousted by the Taliban last month has also requested to speak, with the UN yet to decide who will represent the country at the world body.
A nine-member credentials committee will now rule on the dueling requests, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told AFP, but it is unclear whether the committee will meet before the end of the convocation on Monday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received a letter from Taliban-appointed Amir Khan Muttaqi "requesting to participate" in the high-level debate, Dujarric said.
It was dated Monday September 20 -- the day before the session got underway -- and listed Muttaqi as "Minister of Foreign Affairs," he added.
The letter did not specify whether Muttaqi wanted to travel to New York to speak or whether the Taliban would submit a recorded video message, as many leaders are doing this year due to COVID-19.
The letter also indicated that Ghulam Isaczai "no longer represents" Afghanistan at the United Nations.
