YouSaid · the spoken record

Prendergast

lines on the record
716
first
1999-08-27
most recent
2018-09-10
sittings or episodes
36
sources
un-security-council

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  1. “The unabated involvement of neighbouring and other countries in the Afghan conflict not only continues to fuel the fighting inside the country but also appears to call into question the practical significance of the various declarations agreed upon by the members of the group of "six plus two", a group that includes all of Afghanistan's neighbours. As members of the Council may be aware, the Secretary-General, in his message to the Tashkent meeting of the "six-plus-two", explicitly stressed the need for concerted and effective action of that group. Regrettably, we cannot say that this has taken place. The apparent trend of growing disunity among the members of the "six plus two" can be expected to call into further question the relevance of that group as presently constituted.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  2. “This fighting in Afghanistan has almost a ritual quality, with the front line moving to and fro. It is also extremely troubling that outside support for the warring parties has not diminished. On the contrary, as the Secretary-General indicated in his statement on 6 August, in addition to reports about ongoing deliveries of ammunition and other war-making materials, there are now thousands of non-Afghan nationals taking part in the fighting. If this trend is not reversed by the warring Afghan parties and their outside supporters, the nature of the senseless war in Afghanistan will increasingly evolve towards an even more widespread and destructive regional conflict.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  3. “Many of these people had returned to their villages from Pakistan during the period 1994-1995 after the rehabilitation of the irrigation systems on which they depend. As in the past, the use of landmines continues, which has added to the ranks of the disabled, the orphaned and the widowed. Both parties to the conflict have bombed and rocketed with impunity areas inhabited by civilians. I am afraid it is the case that the warring parties in Afghanistan have, time and again, exhibited a callous disregard for the way in which their activities cause loss of life, limb and livelihood to the people of Afghanistan. It is deeply disturbing that the fighting in Afghanistan, reignited by the Taliban's offensive on 28 July, resumed immediately after the Tashkent meeting of the group of the "six plus two" on 19 and 20 July.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  4. “There are also approximately 10,000 internally displaced persons, including women and children, in Kunduz and Taloqan provinces as well as in the northern area of Pulikhumbri. Systematic destruction of the agricultural base in the Shomali valley is reportedly under way for military and other reasons. It seems that, in addition to the widespread burning of houses, boundary walls around properties are being demolished and irrigation systems destroyed. These are ancient irrigation systems, resulting in the loss of trees and important fruit crops that were due for harvesting. If carried out over a wide area, and not just close to strategic roads, as has been the case in the past, this sort of action will have a devastating impact on the livelihoods of the local communities.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  5. “The relative absence of young men is notable among the internally displaced persons. These families came with very few personal possessions. The World Food Programme has organized emergency feeding for the people in the compound. A United Nations assessment mission is currently in the Panjsher valley and we expect to have more detailed information on the numbers, location and condition on the numbers, location and conditions of the internally displaced persons in the valley, as well as coordination requirements, by the beginning of next week. An estimated 60,000 people are currently displaced in the area. Most seem to be accommodated with local families, although some 15,000 people are reportedly camping in the open with no shelter. This causes serious concern, as the valley is very difficult to access.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  6. “It is believed that the number of internally displaced persons in Kabul may be as many as 40,000. However, estimates on the exact number of internally displaced persons are difficult, as many people prefer not to disclose their place of origin or identity for fear of retaliation from the Taliban authorities. Many of these internally displaced persons have found accommodation with friends and relatives in the city. The United Nations has not obtained, to date, official permission from the Taliban authorities to conduct independent identification of internally displaced persons in the capital. As of 22 August some one thousand families are housed in the ex-Soviet Embassy compound in Kabul. The size of the families - between two and four members - is much smaller than usual as they are mainly women with young children and the elderly.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  7. “The growing use of boy soldiers by both sides, but particularly by the Taliban in their recent offensive, is another alarming trend. As members of the Council are aware, the Secretary-General expressed his deep concern over reports of the involvement in the Afghan conflict of students, some as young as 14, and he called on the warring parties to respect the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In terms of the humanitarian situation, reports of forced displacement and the burning of houses and crops in the Shomali valley have been confirmed by an increasing number of sources. The flow of internally displaced persons into Kabul is ongoing. More than 30,000 internally displaced persons were counted at checkpoints at the outskirts of the capital between 8 and 20 August.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  8. “The Taliban assert that they have only destroyed houses used by opposition guerrilla fighters. But the extent of the destruction of homes and crops and livestock does not seem in any way compatible or commensurate with these Taliban claims. Furthermore, the Taliban have conducted a policy whereby the menfolk have been separated from families of internally displaced persons transported by the Taliban to Jalalabad. The Taliban have also carried out detentions and arrests of those suspected of supporting or favouring the United Front. These detentions have included five United Nations Afghan national staff members or their dependants. All but one have been released within the 72 hours of detention permitted under the United Nations security protocol with the Taliban authorities.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  9. “If I might now raise the issue of human rights, it should be recalled that the Secretary-General, in a statement of 6 August, expressed his alarm about reports of massive forced displacements of civilians from the areas where fighting has been raging in Afghanistan. In this context, the Secretary-General pointed out that the parties responsible for committing criminal acts such as forced displacements subsequently turn to the United Nations and the international community as a whole to help save their own people from disasters provoked by those who claim to be their country's leaders. The United Nations has compelling evidence that the Taliban, in the course of their attack in the Shomali plains, have meted out completely unacceptable treatment to the civilian population.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  10. “Accordingly, a Pakistan delegation led by the Additional Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, Rustan Shah Mohamed, met a United Front delegation in Dushanbe on 18 August and subsequently met with Mullah Omar in Kandahar before returning again to Dushanbe on 22-23 August. The United Front have publicly rejected any Pakistan effort at mediation, asserting that Pakistan's military and political support for the Taliban makes this impossible. Privately, however, the United Front have welcomed the direct contact with Pakistan in order to convey their viewpoint. To date there has been no public Taliban comment on the talks.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  11. “Despite inquiries by the United Nations Special Mission, the Taliban have not clarified what measures of sincerity the United Front would need to demonstrate in order to persuade the Taliban to resume dialogue with them. The car bomb attack in Kandahar on 25 August, reportedly aimed at Mullah Omar, could make it even more difficult to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table. In a separate initiative, the Pakistan Government has sought to bring the two Afghan sides together. Pakistan has indicated that its initiative was taken in response to a telephone appeal made by the President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, Professor Rabbani, to the Prime Minister of Pakistan.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  12. “In an effort to test the readiness of the two sides to meet again, the acting head of UNSMA was in contact with Commander Masoud on a number of occasions during the period from 10 to 12 August. Commander Masoud indicated his continued readiness, despite the ongoing fighting, to meet with the Taliban to discuss a political solution to Afghanistan's problems. He made clear that he was not interested in surrender to the Taliban. With his consent, the United Nations Mission passed this message privately to the Taliban leadership in Kandahar. Mullah Omar's response was that the Taliban could not reopen direct talks with the United Front until they, in his words, "show their sincerity".”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  13. “The United Nations can confirm that fighting is continuing between the two sides in Bangi district on the Kunduz/Takhar provincial border. The renewed Taliban attacks have been reinforced by a large influx of recruits from the religious schools or madrassas in Pakistan. An estimated 2,000 to 5,000 young students, including Afghan and others, have joined the war. If I may turn to the political situation, the present condition is that it is at a stalemate. There has been no direct contact or meeting between the two warring sides since their bilateral meeting in the margins of the "six-plus- two" high-level meeting at Tashkent on 19 and 20 July. Nevertheless, UNSMA, the United Nations Mission, has continued its quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomacy.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  14. “When Commander Masoud held it he progressively used it less because of its vulnerability to Taliban missile attack. To relieve pressure on his forces near his stronghold of the Panjsher valley, Commander Masoud has made some diversionary attacks on Taliban forces on the eastern flank in the provinces of Laghman and Kunad, and also more limited ones to the west in Goa province. The United Front claimed to have captured some five districts in Laghman and Kunad. The Taliban partially refute this claim. In the past week, the United Front claimed that Taliban aircraft had bombed civilian populations in Takhar province in northern Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed to be challenging Commander Masoud's western supply route into Taloqan, one of his main command centres.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  15. “The front lines then returned more or less to their pre-fighting configuration. The United Nations Mission estimates that around 1,200 Taliban and 600 United Front fighters have been killed in the past month. This fighting, however, has made little overall difference to the military balance between the two warring sides. The greatest impact has been on the civilian population, who have suffered greatly and whose plight I shall describe later. On ll August, the Taliban launched yet another initiative. They quickly seized territory in the Shomali plains north of Kabul, including towns along and adjacent to the so-called Kabul old road. Taliban forces currently are in the vicinity of the airbase at Bagram, but it appears that neither side is seeking to occupy the airbase, which no longer has its former strategic importance.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source

  16. “Mr. Prendergast: Let me start, if I may, with the military situation, since for the past month Afghanistan has been gripped by renewed and more intense fighting than usual between the Taliban and the United Front. The Security Council was briefed on the developments during informal consultations on 28 July and again on 5 August. The Secretariat's information comes mainly from public as well as Afghan sources, since the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA) has no presence in the areas of active fighting. The Taliban launched their long-anticipated summer offensive on 28 July. On 5 August, the United Front launched a counter- offensive against Taliban forces north of Kabul and in certain northern areas along the Oxus River. The United Front subsequently recaptured within a week virtually all their lost ground.”

    1999-08-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4039 (1999) · source