Afghan envoy to UN resigns after Taliban moved to oust him

The former Afghan government’s ambassador to the United Nations has resigned after the country’s current Taliban rulers sought to replace him with their own envoy.

Ghulam Isaczai told the UN on Thursday that he stepped down the day before, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

Afghanistan’s UN Mission tweeted that another diplomat, Naseer Faiq, would lead it as a charge d’affaires. The term can denote someone filling in between ambassadors. The mission said it would continue working “to share the concerns and legitimate demands of our fellow citizens at the UN.”

Taliban leaders, however, have been trying to put their own representative, Mohammad Suhail Shaheen, in their country’s seat at the UN.

Isaczai, a longtime UN diplomat, was appointed last June by President Ashraf Ghani, whose government was ousted by the Taliban on August 15 amid a chaotic withdrawal of US and Nato troops.

The Taliban challenged Isaczai’s credentials to remain in his post. The UN General Assembly delayed action on the request December 6, so he stayed in the job.

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No country has recognised the Taliban, which has come under intense international pressure to broaden its all-male government overwhelmingly drawn from the country’s dominant Pashtun ethnic group, and to ensure women’s rights to education, employment and participation in political and social life.

A message seeking comment was sent to Isaczai on Friday.

• MENA