U.N. Says Afghans Come for Talks with Peace Envoy

08/05/2001| IslamWeb

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Islamweb & News Agencies) - U.N. Afghan envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Thursday will meet Afghans arriving from inside the battered country to discuss replacing the Taliban leaders, a U.N. spokesman said.The talks, coming a day after Brahimi refused to meet Taliban ambassador Abdul Salam Zaeef, underlined the isolation of the Taliban regime as military and political moves gather pace around them to try to end their rule.
``He will be meeting with Afghans from inside Afghanistan,'' said U.N. spokesman Eric Falt. ``We cannot disclose who for obvious reasons.''
Last week, the Taliban captured a prominent mujahideen commander from the anti-Soviet war of the 1980s, Abdul Haq, and executed him for entering the country to stir up revolt.
Brahimi has been in continuous meetings with Pakistanis, Afghans and diplomats since Monday but said he did not have time to meet Zaeef, the only Taliban ambassador and accessible conduit to the leadership inside Afghanistan. (Read photo caption below)
Falt said Brahimi also would meet representatives of RAWA, the Revolutionary Afghan Women's Association, a group of Afghan women who have opposed human rights abuses by all military groups in the battered country.
RAWA has gained fame for sending women on daring missions into the country, photographing Taliban abuses to publicize them to the rest of the world. Pictures of public executions have come almost exclusively from RAWA, which defies the official ban on photography.
Brahimi had met women working for other non-governmental humanitarian organizations Wednesday who complained they face abuse under the Taliban.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Lakhdar Brahimi, left, the U.N. special representative for Afghanistan, is greeted by Pakistan's Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar, right, prior to their meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 29, 2001. (AP Photo/Tariq Aziz)
- Oct 29 9:41 AM ET