YouSaid · the spoken record

Abdullah Abdullâh

lines on the record: 142
first: 1997-09-24
most recent: 2018-09-24
sittings or episodes: 7
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“They say that other Muslim countries which adhere to the principle of elections have overlooked the true teachings of Islam. When told to respect human rights, the Taliban reply that they have their own standards for human rights. They say that human rights in other Muslim countries are not based on Islam. In response to constant appeals to respect the human rights of women and reopen girls? schools, the Taliban, quoted in The Washington Post of 25 September 1998, say that 27 “the countries that shout about freedom for women want to use them only for prostitution and entertainment until they get old and useless”. The Taliban say they know best what to do with women and girls. When asked to put an end to drug production and trafficking, the Taliban say that, though produced in Afghanistan, narcotics are consumed overseas.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The Taliban?s obstinately rejectionist and intransigent attitude towards peace and human rights is well known to the international community. Let us recall once again how the Taliban?s retrograde militia, helped and patronized by their cross-border allies, visualize and conceive the events in Afghanistan. The Taliban have their own answer to every issue raised by the United Nations and the international community. When asked to establish a broad-based representative Government, the Taliban reply that they have brought many parts of Afghanistan under their military domination and that this is a broad-based representative Government. When requested to hold elections in Afghanistan, the Taliban state that elections are unIslamic.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The international community must admit that it has done too little in the face of the increasingly bold and aggressive ISI policy towards Afghanistan and has gone too far with its policy of appeasement towards the Taliban in their fight against the rest of the world. The Security Council must determine the existence of this threat to peace, breach of the peace and act of aggression by Pakistan, and should take appropriate measures against the perpetrators in conformity with Articles 41 and 42 of the Charter. The alarming situation in Afghanistan requires definitive action by the Security Council. It is time that the presence of about 28,000 armed Pakistanis in Afghanistan was dealt with in accordance with Article 39 of the United Nations Charter.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“In fact, when a fragile and vulnerable country like Pakistan involves itself in a great game, as the Afghani people say, it digs its own grave. Article 1 of the United Nations Charter calls for effective and collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace. Consistent with this, the Islamic State of Afghanistan, over the past three years, has repeatedly warned the international community of the mounting threat to regional peace and security posed by the Pakistani Government?s military intelligence service, (ISI), and its mercenaries, the Taliban, in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, these early warnings have all gone unheard. Today, the exacerbated situation in Afghanistan and its menacing implications for the region and beyond are exactly what we deserve.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The Taliban have not just dragged Iran and the Central Asian republics into the conflict, they have also pushed Pakistan into a tense relationship with all its Muslim neighbours. What was supposed to provide Pakistan with strategic depth' has turned into a quagmire. Islamabad is now faced with yet another critical choice between either cutting Taliban to size or siding with them against friendly neighbours.” The article continues, and I quote, “If somebody thinks that with the Taliban victory a lasting peace will be restored in Afghanistan and peace dividends will start flowing in, he is sadly mistaken.” Headlines such as “Crises push Pakistan to the brink of disaster” in the Washington Post of 26 September are early warnings about a state of affairs that will affect the entire region.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“However, the response of the Taliban mercenaries and their cross-border patrons to the resolution — a major assault on Bamyan valley on 14 September, during which the most atrocious acts were committed against the civilian population of the valley — was yet another vow to continue their military agenda. Presently, the only country that takes pride in recognizing the Taliban and in fact urges others to do the same remains Pakistan. The Pakistani meddling in Afghanistan — which has direct consequences for Pakistan itself and the entire region — has best been summarized in the Pakistani daily The News on 25 September 1998. I quote: “North-West Asia is in great trouble and the Taliban are the catalyst behind it.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“We fully agree with the generally expressed view that the global phenomenon of terrorism requires a collective and concerted response. Afghanistan, along with other members of the Non- Aligned Movement, also condemns the practice of recruiting, financing, training, using or supporting mercenaries as a violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Let us make it clear once again here that the Taliban are Pakistani mercenaries. 26 On 28 August 1998, pursuant to the deterioration of the situation stemming from a whole new series of military activities evidently directed by the cross-border ISI officers, the Security Council adopted an important resolution, 1193 (1998), for which President Rabbani voiced his firm support at the Durban summit.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“During the twelfth summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, on 3 September 1998 in Durban, South Africa, President Burhanuddin Rabbani brought these issues to the attention of the summit. In its paragraphs on terrorism the Final Document of the summit says it is imperative that no State organize, assist or participate in terrorist acts in the territories of other States or encourage activities directed towards such acts, including permitting the use of national territory or the soil of a neighbouring country for planning and training for such a purpose and or the financing of terrorist activities. Paragraph 153 of the Final Document states that the heads of State or Government solemnly reaffirmed their unequivocal condemnation of any political, diplomatic, moral or material support for terrorism.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“On 21 August 1998, Lieutenant-Colonel Carmine Calo, Military Adviser to the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan, an Italian national, was brutally murdered by two Pakistani terrorists on assignment in Kabul. All of these shocking events have one thing in common: the implementation of an anachronistic socio-political agenda by means of destructive force and violence and the adventurous hegemony of the Pakistani army in the region. These things pose a direct threat to regional peace and security. Three major concerns — namely, terrorism, drugs and the violation of human rights — are originating in the Taliban-held areas of Afghanistan, but they are being instigated from across the border.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The evil triangle I am referring to is one between: first, the Pakistani military Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI); secondly, branches of international terrorism and drug traffickers operating from Afghanistan; and thirdly, the infamous Taliban militia. On 7 August 1998, two African capitals suffered major explosions, sending a shock wave of international terrorism throughout the world. The following day, nine Iranian diplomats and a journalist were ferociously gunned down inside the Consulate-General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mazar-i-Sharif. According to Amnesty International, from 8 to 10 August thousands of ethnic Hazara civilians were killed in Mazar-i-Sharif.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The urgency of the alarming situation in Afghanistan, particularly given the events of the past few months, requires me to explain why and how that situation continues to pose major threats to the peace and security of the world. There is an evil triangle that is haunting our region. This evil triangle has imprisoned and terrorized an entire nation. It has almost engulfed our region in a major confrontation. The spread of this evil triangle like a plague is about to contaminate the entire area, setting off alarm bells from the Far East to the Far West, even echoing in faraway capitals of the world.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“At the threshold of the twenty-first century, let us pledge to settle religious and ethnic conflicts through dialogue, tolerance and cultural exchange, and to find collective answers to international terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking and the degradation of the environment.” Let me from this rostrum remind all of us here, as the general debate draws to a close, that we must ask ourselves about the level of our commitment to the implementation of the ideals I have mentioned.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Afghanistan must cease to exist as a country of confrontation, discord and clashes. Rather, it must turn into a land of interrelation, association, joint action and cooperation. This is the genuine desire of all patriotic Afghans and of the true friends of Afghanistan. Fifty-two years ago, the United Nations was founded on the paramount ideals of a safer world and on parameters of global peace and collective security. The Foreign Minister of Italy, His Excellency Mr. Lamberto Dini, said in his speech last week before the General Assembly: “We no longer live in a world of purely national interests. More and more, policy-making is informed by global concerns such as human rights, solidarity and social justice.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“I should like to announce that the delegation of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, together with some other countries of the third world, will co-sponsor the draft resolution entitled “Towards a culture of peace,” submitted under agenda item 156. My delegation also supports the resolution of the Economic and Social Council adopted in Geneva entitled “Proclamation of the Year 2000 as the International Year for the Culture of Peace”. We want to establish the best fraternal relations with Pakistan and other neighbouring countries. Afghanistan’s pivotal location places it, as always, at the crossroads of different corners of Asia. Naturally, no regional economic cooperation — in the context of the transit of goods, petroleum and natural gas — can succeed without a peaceful Afghanistan enjoying administrative unity.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Federico Mayor, Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and many Buddhist leaders throughout the world, the Taliban did not exhibit any change of attitude. Fortunately, its military push was repulsed and the colossal statues remain intact. In this context, reference should be made to the ancient artifacts plundered from the rich Kabul National Museum. According to Pakistani press reports, the artifacts have been added to the personal collections of the former Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, and the former Minister of the Interior, Nasirullah Babar. On behalf of the people of Afghanistan, I call upon the Pakistanis to return these irreplaceable Afghan artifacts, which are also part of the world’s cultural heritage. I urge UNESCO to investigate the matter.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Afghanistan, as a State party to the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 23 November 1972, has recognized its primary duty to ensure the identification, protection, conservation, preservation and transmission to future generations of, inter alia, the cultural heritage situated in the country. The General Assembly has called upon all Afghan parties to take appropriate steps to prohibit, prevent and, if necessary, put a stop to any form of theft, pillage or misappropriation of and any acts of vandalism directed against, cultural property of the Afghan nation. The Taliban, however, on 17 April 1997, out of fanaticism expressed its intention to demolish the two largest statues of Buddha in the world. In spite of great concern by the Secretary-General and Mr.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The General Assembly has reiterated that the continuation of the conflict in Afghanistan provides a fertile ground for terrorism and drug trafficking, which destabilize the region and beyond. The United Nations Information Service reported on 11 September 1997 a rise in opium- poppy production in Afghanistan to 2,800 metric tons in 1997, an estimated 25 per cent increase over 1996. Mr. Derek Fatchett, a Minister in Britain’s Foreign Office, pointed out in The Guardian of 25 June 1997 that the Taliban war chest is financed by drug money. Furthermore, 96.4 per cent of Afghanistan’s total opium production originates in provinces currently under Taliban control, according to the United Nations Information Service report.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Francis Okelo, the Deputy Head of the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan, together with a 23 United Nations military adviser, paid a visit to Maimana prison in northern Afghanistan and verified the physical presence of Pakistani military prisoners in the prison. And The News of 6 September 1997 — printed in Islamabad — contains an article entitled “Pakistanis in Masood’s captivity plead for release”. The General Assembly called upon all States immediately to end the supply of arms, ammunition, military equipment, training or any other military support to all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan. Furthermore, document A/52/403, dated 29 September 1997, confirms the recent dispatch of some 600 additional military personnel and that shipments of arms from Pakistan to Afghanistan have significantly increased.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The book includes, first, identification photos of each Pakistani captive, prisoner registration forms with detailed descriptions, fingerprints and other data pertaining to each; secondly, identification cards taken from some prisoners that illustrate their membership in extremist Pakistani organizations responsible for terrorist acts in South Asia, such as Anjuman-i-Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan; and thirdly, correspondence from most of the prisoners to their families in Pakistan, written mostly in Urdu — the official Pakistani language, which is not spoken in Afghanistan. I should like to remind the Assembly that on 3 July 1997 Mr.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The book, entitled The Not-So-Hidden Hand — produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic State of Afghanistan — has been distributed to the members of the Security Council, some other interested countries and the Secretariat of the United Nations. This book — I will not go through it; it is a big book — documents directly and proves the physical presence of Pakistani paramilitary and military personnel inside Afghanistan, fighting alongside the Taliban against the Islamic State of Afghanistan.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The Declaration, systematizing a political framework for the country, contains the following principles: first, the principle of Islam; secondly, the principle of independence and international cooperation; thirdly, the principles of democracy and pluralism; fourthly, the principles of election and delegation of authority to local administration; and, fifthly, the principle of human rights. The General Assembly last year called on “all States strictly to refrain from any outside interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, including the involvement of foreign military personnel”. (Resolution 51/195 B, paragraph 15) Regarding the involvement of Pakistani military personnel in Afghanistan, the Government of the Islamic State of Afghanistan has transmitted amply documented information to the United Nations.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Lloyd Axworthy, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, said in his statement of 25 September in this Assembly: “Canadian women, appalled at the treatment of their sisters in Afghanistan, have started a letter-writing campaign. I will be delivering some 5,000 letters today to the Secretary-General, which call on him to take the lead in exposing the gross human rights violations of women in Afghanistan as unacceptable in the eyes of the world’s citizens.” [See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-second Session, Plenary Meetings, 12th meeting] We draw the attention of the General Assembly to the recent document (A/52/384) containing the Declaration of Principles made by the United Islamic and National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, adopted on 20 September 1997 by the Islamic State of Afghanistan.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The General Assembly deplored “the civilian casualties inflicted by the indiscriminate use of landmines.” (ibid., paragraph 11) The Taliban have recently spread landmines in and around the northern city of Kunduz. This is only one example of Taliban mass use of landmines. The Islamic State of Afghanistan shares the General Assembly’s deep concern over and denunciation of “the discrimination against women and girls and other recurring abuses of human rights in Afghanistan ... emphasizing the importance of democracy and of the realization of human rights in any future political process in Afghanistan”. (ibid., ninth preambular paragraph) Mr.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“22 We are ready to cooperate for the creation of “a national security force to provide for security throughout the country and oversee the demobilization of all the warring parties through the collection and safeguarding of all heavy weapons in the country, and to stop the flow of arms and of equipment related to arms production to the parties”. (ibid.) We are grateful to the leaders and Governments of the central Asian republics of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan for their respective proposed peace initiatives, as well as to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Apart from supplementing each other, these initiatives may be coordinated so as to lead to the convening of useful negotiations with a specific agenda under the auspices of the United Nations. The proposals, however, thus far have not been accepted by the Taliban.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The “establishment of a broad-based and fully representative authoritative council” (ibid.) as required by the General Assembly resolution, will be feasible if the appeal of the United Front inviting the Taliban to join the Front is heard. The Islamic State of Afghanistan, in this regard, extends its full cooperation to the United Nations. It is imperative to secure the agreement of the Taliban with the United Nations and to ensure its full cooperation with such a broad-based authoritative council.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“We favour “An immediate and durable ceasefire among the Afghan parties, to be supervised by a commission composed of representatives of all the warring parties, facilitated by the United Nations”. (ibid., paragraph 8) One of the most important elements in the General Assembly and Security Council resolutions on Afghanistan is the call for “demilitarization of Kabul, with adequate safeguards to ensure security and public order”. (ibid.) The Islamic State of Afghanistan considers this point to be very important. It could constitute a credible precedent that could be applied in the future in other parts of the country.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The Islamic State of Afghanistan remains committed to the safety of the United Nations personnel and the personnel of other aid agencies in Afghanistan. The Islamic State of Afghanistan, in the light of the mounting needs of the Afghan people, appeals to all donor agencies not to abandon Afghanistan, particularly in the face of the upcoming harsh winter. Security Council document S/1997/588 of 25 July 1997 explains the Islamic State of Afghanistan’s agreement to a Declaration of the United National and Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, the foundation for an enlarged body representing all ethnic groups from all over Afghanistan. The Declaration addresses an appeal in favour of the peace process to the Taliban and the Pakistani Government.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“(ibid., paragraph 5) Because of the shortage of time, I am omitting some paragraphs from my prepared text. The Taliban have refused to negotiate any political settlement and have insisted on a unilateral military solution. The Islamic State of Afghanistan honours “its commitments regarding the safety and full freedom of movement of United Nations personnel, in particular the personnel of the United Nations Special Mission, as well as the security of their premises in Afghanistan.” (ibid., paragraph 7) Recently, however, as a result of the disturbances brought about on 14 September 1997 by Taliban infiltration, the premises belonging to international aid agencies and non-governmental organizations in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif were plundered. This city was previously a haven of peace and security.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“We express our full “support for the continuing efforts of the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan” (Resolution 51/195 B, thirteenth preambular paragraph) led by Mr. Norbert Holl, and the special assignment on 30 July 1997 of Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi as Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to assess the situation and the role of the United Nations in Afghanistan. We reaffirm the full support of our Government for the “activities of the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan, in facilitating ... in cooperation with [neighbouring and] interested States and international organizations, the political process towards the goals of national reconciliation and a lasting political settlement with the participation of all parties to the conflict”.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“It is worth mentioning that the Taliban’s aggressive attitude is encouraged by military intelligence services of neighbouring Pakistan, which still hopes to install a puppet regime in Kabul, subservient to its expansionist and hegemonic desires. The dull-minded interventionists should read the history of Afghanistan once again and learn from the defeat of previous aggressors in this homeland of dauntless and courageous people. We are fully aware 21 “that a cessation of armed hostilities ... and political stability are indispensable if reconstruction measures are to have a lasting effect”. (Resolution 51/195 A, eighth preambular paragraph) The Taliban have expressed no interest in the urgently needed reconstruction of the country. In fact, starvation by blockade is their favourite weapon against Afghans.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The report of the Secretary-General dated 16 March 1997 indicates that: “The Taliban, judging both from their words and from their activities on the ground, appear determined to gain military and political control of the whole of Afghanistan and to establish their vision of an Islamic State”. [A/51/838, paragraph 7] The Secretary-General’s report (A/51/929) of 16 June 1997 equally illustrates Taliban’s choice of the military option and its intention to overrun the country by force. This utterly bellicose position of the Taliban, while prolonging the suffering of the Afghan people is aggravating the concerns of the countries in the region, which views it as a serious threat to the region’s peace and security.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“With regard to the peace process, we share the view that “the main responsibility for finding a political solution to the conflict lies with the Afghan parties”. [ibid., paragraph 2] The Taliban, however, favoured, encouraged and assisted by the cross-border political and military support, consider their only responsibility to be the waging of an aggressive war aimed at conquering the whole of Afghan territory by crushing all resistance movements. The Taliban’s intransigence and disregard for United Nations General Assembly and Security Council resolutions calling for a peaceful settlement of the Afghan problem are a fact well known to the international community.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The situation has also worsened with regard to what the resolution called “actions undermining the security of State frontiers, including the growing illicit traffic in arms and narcotics by criminal elements and groups from [Taliban occupied] areas of Afghanistan and ... the use of [occupied] Afghan territory for the training and harbouring of terrorists”. [ibid., eighteenth preambular paragraph] It is amazing that some of the countries that consider terrorism a threat to peace should nonetheless — while claiming impartiality — favour the rejectionist Taliban by equating them with the Government of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, which shares the mounting concerns of the General Assembly in this matter.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“According to General Assembly resolution 51/195 B, which was adopted unanimously on 17 December 1996, and fully supported by the Islamic State of Afghanistan, the Assembly is “Strongly committed to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Afghanistan”. [resolution 51/195 B, seventh preambular paragraph] The General Assembly also stressed “the importance of non-intervention and non- interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan”. [ibid., sixteenth preambular paragraph] Unfortunately, since last year the supply of weapons and ammunition from abroad has massively increased and constitutes a very important programme of action by the powerful Pakistani intelligence service, Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI).”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Reported in the West as an indigenous struggle, in fact Pakistan set up the Taliban as a semi-regular fighting force in 1994 ... providing them with ... guns, money, fuel and technical support ... Since its creation in 1947, Pakistan has harboured the goal of dominating its northern neighbour.” [The Nation, “Kabul’s Patriarchy with Guns”, 11 November 1996, p. 19] And, finally, the Pakistani Government, by proposing the dubious “vacant-seat” formula for Afghanistan, strives to expel from the United Nations a country that has been a member of this global body since before the birth of Pakistan. My delegation is grateful to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for having summarized the tragic situation in Afghanistan in his address to the fifty-second session of the General Assembly on 22 September 1997.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“If Pakistan continues its irresponsible policy of perpetrating ethnic hatred in Afghanistan, a consequential escalation of “ethnic cleansing” will threaten the national unity of our country. Pakistan maintains that it has no favourites in Afghanistan. The reality is that the Pakistani establishment has designated one group of Afghans to be the natural rulers over all the rest and conceivably to turn Afghanistan into a subservient protectorate State. The reality was best expressed by Fred Halliday, an international affairs specialist at the London School of Economics, who wrote last November: “The capture by Taliban guerrillas of the Afghan capital, Kabul, however short- or long-lived, has come after two years of one of the most obnoxious interventions by one State in the affairs of 20 another in many years.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“William Maley, the renowned Australian expert on Afghanistan, stated earlier in the year that the Taliban brought peace to Kabul in the same sense that Hitler brought peace to Warsaw. On 7 August 1997, Mr. Gohar Ayub Khan, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, said: “In Afghanistan ... the majority in the country is Pakhtoons, who are 60 per cent. The other groups, including Uzbeks, Tajiks, Hazaras and Ismailis collectively, constitute about 40 per cent.” The Pakistani Foreign Minister is blatantly inventing fraudulent statistics to fuel the flames of ethnic hatred and conflict in Afghanistan and to justify Pakistani objectives. No valid statistics could claim that any ethnic group in Afghanistan — Pakhtoon, Tajik, Uzbek or other — constituted more than 37 per cent of the population.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Those questions are: Who is following the rules of the civilized world? Whose actions warrant recognition? Who deserves to participate in civilized discussion at a global level? On the battlefield, we continue, of course, to defend ourselves and our nation. In this imposed war, we are taking what we consider to be the moral high ground of negotiation and dialogue. The Islamic State of Afghanistan — like many others in the world, including some prominent Pakistani politicians and commentators — still identifies Pakistani intervention and interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan as the root cause of the prolonged conflict and the subsequent suffering of our people. Pakistan constantly alleges that the Taliban control two thirds of Afghanistan, including Kabul, where peace prevails. Mr.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
““This is an example of what people here go through every day: in a situation of random terror.” [Reuters News Wire, “EC commissioner released by Taleban,” 29 September 1997] An Afghan quoted in The New York Times of 24 September 1997 stated, “Most days I wake up thinking we’d all be better off dead than under these fanatics.” These are just a couple of facts to open a small window onto the gloom and despair facing our people. As this terror continues in Afghanistan, we are here today to discuss the Afghan question, which is now an international issue. As the crisis in Afghanistan continues to unfold, we must ask — and answer — important questions, questions to be answered particularly by those who, under the guise of neutrality, equate the aggressors with the victims of aggression.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Their latest ignominious act has been to arrest Emma Bonino, the European Union Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, her aides and a group of visiting international journalists, including CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Outraged by the Taliban’s act, the German Foreign Minister, Mr. Klaus Kinkel, said that he considered it a slap in the face and an act of “cynical disregard for the entire European Union”. The group was eventually released, but not before at least two of its members were beaten with the butt of a Kalashnikov rifle. Ms. Bonino told Reuters that the experience had given her a taste of what Afghans go through every day under the Taliban.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“One year ago, our Foreign Minister, the late Abdul Rahim Ghafoorzai, stood on this podium to explain the dark and ominous movement known as the Taliban, which — backed by foreign forces — had invaded Afghanistan. Tragically, Mr. Ghafoorzai died in the 19 service of his nation. So today it is my duty to stand before the Assembly to explain the struggle the Afghan people have waged against these mercenaries. When the Taliban entered Kabul on 27 September 1996 their first act was to storm the United Nations complex. The past 12 months have seen a seemingly endless series of edicts issued by the Taliban in areas of Afghanistan that they claim to control. Under those edicts, they have in fact imprisoned every woman and terrorized every man.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Let me impart at the outset the sad news I received early today of the aerial bombardment by the Taliban of the city of Mazar-i- Sharif, the sixteenth consecutive bombardment in just two days. These bombardments have taken as many as 150 lives among the civilian population of the city, mostly women and children. I express outrage and condemnation at this cowardly act of terror, which typifies the Taliban’s gross violation of international humanitarian law and their relentless belligerence against every norm recognized by the world today. I stand before the Assembly and the world community in the tradition of past Afghan representatives — with the exception of those during the years of occupation — representing an independent, sovereign and non-aligned Afghanistan.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)