Faiq rejects Atmar’s letter to UN as conspiracy

KABUL (Pajhwok): Former foreign minister Hanif Atmar has asked the United Nations to endorse Mohammad Wali Naeemi as representative of Afghanistan instead of Naseer Ahmad Faiq, but the latter called it a conspiracy of past corrupt officials.

The caretaker Taliban government had introduced Mohammad Sohail Shaheen as Afghanistan's Acting Representative to the United Nations, but a special UN committee decided that the seat will not be given to the caretaker government for now, and Ghulam Mohammad Ishaqzai, a representative of the previous government, will represent Afghanistan at the world’s body.

Shortly afterwards, however, Ishaqzai resigned and the Afghan delegation there said that Nasir Ahmad Faiq, Afghanistan's advisor to the United Nations, would represent Afghanistan in the organization.

Former Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar wrote in a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that former Afghan ambassador to the United Nations Ishaqzai had resigned on Dec 15, 2021 and Naseer Ahmad Faiq, Afghanistan's Counselor to the United Nations, has been introduced as Charge d'Affaires under his (Atmar's) direction because Ishaqzai's deputy, Mohammad Wali Naeemi, was ill at the time.

Naeemi, former Deputy Ambassador of Afghanistan to the United Nations, has now recovered and he should represent Afghanistan in the UN with effect from Feb 5, Atmar wrote.

Faiq, Afghanistan's envoy to the United Nations, also tweeted the letter, saying he wanted to share "conspiracies and plots of some corrupt and traitorous people".

Faiq writes that after his speech at the UN Security Council that he does not represent the former corrupt government, but the system, the values ​​of the republic, the achievements of 20 years and the representation of the people of Afghanistan.

He demanded that the bank accounts of the corrupt officials of Ashraf Ghani's government be closed and confiscated and that they (corrupt officials of the previous government) be brought to justice.

Referring to Atmar's letter, he said: "This is also an example of the nefarious efforts of these corrupt individuals, which are being carried out through conspiracy and forgery."

The caretaker government of Afghanistan has not yet commented on the matter, but Shaheen said after Faiq's appointment that the United Nations had "credibility" because of its neutrality and should maintain that credibility by handing over the seat to the Afghan government.

He said the regulations should be made with political considerations in mind, otherwise the UN's impartiality would be called into question.

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