PESHAWAR, May 5: A former UN official has hinted at the return of legitimate "moderate Taliban" elements in Afghanistan in future which would help in rebuilding the war-ravaged country.
Speaking at the concluding session of a two-day international conference entitled "The United Nations in the Changing World Order," Michael Sample, a former representative of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan for 2001-2002, while talking about the UN role in the post-Taliban Afghanistan, said that the UN role in the present transitional period was crucial and important.
He said the UN would continue to remain engaged in Afghanistan for some time as the UN had to prepare a strategy for reconstruction in Afghanistan. There was a lot to do in the security sector in the country, he said.
Answering a question, Mr Sample said he hoped that if legitimate elements from "moderate Taliban" returned to Afghanistan they would contribute to efforts being made to promote stability in the country.
Ms Shireen Mazari, Director-General of the Institute for Strategic Studies, Islamabad, read her paper on UN International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) and the nuclear non-proliferation agenda.
She was of the view that UN had destroyed the non- proliferation agenda for future as it was not treating all countries on a par. She criticized the IAEA for not taking action against Israel which has not signed the non-proliferation treaty and conventions related to biological weapons despite the fact that it possessed nuclear capability and, according to western media reports, it had 200 nuclear bombs.
She said though Israel had refused to sign the NPT and ratify other international conventions Iran had not only signed the NPT but also signed additional NPT protocols to satisfy the IAEA.
"Nuclear non-proliferation was never linked with the intervention of the states but now if Americans call a country a rogue state, there is not only a chance of intervention of that state but the issue of non-proliferation is now linked to terrorism," she said.
Mr Ijaz Hussain, Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, talked about the role of UN in Iraq war and the conflict with the US. He criticized the docile role of the UN and said it was acting upon dictates of the US.
"The Bush administration recently challenged the UN and threatened to go to war in Iraq with or without UN authorization. Only Security Council could legitimise the use of force otherwise it is illegal," Mr Hussain said.
He said the UN was an extension of US foreign policy and US wanted to expand its tentacles in Iraq as no weapons of mass destruction had been found there. Participants, including teachers and students of the University of Peshawar, also criticised the role of UN and said it was closely working according to US wishes and whims. It seemed as if the UN was an institution of the US rather than its other member countries.
