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Annan Says Afghan Accord Needs Outside Support to Succeed
Calling that the recent agreement between warring parties in Afghanistan a glimmer of hope for the long-suffering country, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday, November 30, urged international support for the difficult quest for peace in the country.
In a report to the Security Council, Annan said the agreement signed earlier this month between the Taliban and the United Front committing them to the UN-sponsored negations is "only a first step in what will be at best a long and difficult journey towards peace."
For the effort to succeed, Annan pointed out that the support of the international community, especially the "six plus two" group comprising Afghanistan's neighbors plus the United States and Russia, is essential.
The UN chief said the Afghan conflict is being fueled by the involvement of "external players of various sorts" on both sides.
"It is deeply distressing that a significant number of non-Afghan personnel, largely from Pakistani madrassahs, are not only taking active part in the fighting, most, if not all, on the side of the Taliban," but "there also appears to be outsider involvement in the planning and logistical support of their military operations," he noted.
Annan said if political initiatives succeed in starting substantive negotiations, it will be necessary to sharply increase the diplomatic capacity of the UN Special Mission to Afghanistan.
For that purpose, the UN chief said he will strengthen the mission's political staff.
Describing 2000 as an exceptionally difficult year for most Afghans, Annan said that the country is facing a combination of war, with its direct and accumulated effects, widespread poverty exacerbated by the worst drought in 30 years, continued gross violations of human rights, and the destruction and criminalization of the economy, with the result that most Afghans are reduced to eking out a "bare bones existence."
The UN chief deplored the Taliban's failure to turn over indicted terrorist Osama bin Laden as demanded by relevant resolutions of the Security Council.
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