UNSC lifts travel ban on 4 senior IEA officials

KABUL (Pajhwok): The UN Security Council (UNSC) has lifted the travel ban on the Deputy Prime Minister, two acting ministers and chief of the General Directorate of Intelligence of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).

According to some media reports, the UNSC in a statement on Wednesday announced that the travel ban curbs were removed on Maulvi Abdul Kabir, Deputy Prime Minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, Minister of Interior, Abdul Haq Wasiq, GDI chief, and Noor Mohammad Saqib, Minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs.

The statement said that the travel ban exemption for these four officials of the IEA had been approved on Wednesday, June 5th in order to enabled them to attend hajj rituals in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesman for the IEA, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “Yes, it may be accurate; because they (officials) have trips, they have gone to hajj and some of them are on their way to Saudi Arabia.”

He said: “Khalifa Sahib is in the United Arab Emirates and the development may be true.”

To a query about Haqqani’s UAE visit, States Departments spokesman Mattew Miller said: “I would like to say that countries that host IEA officials banned by the United Nations from traveling must obtain permission for their travel.”

He said it was essential for UN member states to follow these laws.

A IEA delegation headed by Acting Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani traveled to the United Arab Emirate (UAE) on Tuesday.

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