The third meeting in Doha revealed Guterres's inconsistency and Roza Atunbayeva's confusion.
Author: Ahmad Saidi, an analyst on Afghanistan and regional issues (Germany), especially for “Sangar”
The first and second UN meetings on Afghanistan ended inconclusively. Despite many expectations and hopes, these meetings could not lead to positive developments and changes in Afghanistan's affairs. However, the United Nations is now ready to hold a third meeting in the coming days.
In my opinion, the UN currently under the name “United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan” (UNAMA) should do something in this country so as not to offend all parties - neither the Taliban nor the region with the trans-region.
However, the US and the West, together with the UN, emphasize and insist on the appointment of a special representative for Afghanistan, and the Taliban, Iran, Russia, and China do not agree with this. They say that the problem of Afghanistan should be resolved through the countries of the region, and not through the UN. However, the United States, with all its power and influence in the UN, wants to solve this problem through the UN, and not through the countries of the region...
However, now that we are on the threshold of the third meeting in Doha, many questions arise. Including, is the appointment of a UN special representative for Afghanistan still a subject of discussion? Will Russia, China, and Iran agree to the appointment of a representative for Afghanistan affairs? From now on I know that no, they will never agree.
Now from a legal point of view, I want to discuss whether the appointment of a special representative at the third meeting in Doha is still relevant.
According to Ms. Roza Otunbaeva, head of UNAMA, “At the third meeting in Doha, the features and responsibilities of the special representative for Afghan affairs will be discussed.” These statements indicate that the appointment of a special envoy is still a matter of debate and that US and Western pressures for his appointment appear to be continuing.
On the other hand, why does the UN insist on appointing a special representative for Afghanistan?
I think I know the alphabet of politics. A special representative is determined for a country in three cases:
1 – When war and conflict are beyond the control of the ruling government of the country;
2 - When the internal crisis of the country is not resolved through official structures and institutions and there is a possibility of the crisis spreading to regional and international countries;
3 - When a special issue arises in a captured territory, the United Nations appoints a special representative for the affairs of that country.
However, the Taliban and their supporters claim that none of the above cases and conditions exist in Afghanistan. Security has been established in Afghanistan, there is absolute power, and the war has not gotten out of control, so they do not see the need to appoint a special representative for the affairs of this country.
But the West, led by the United States, is trying with all its might to appoint a special representative for Afghanistan.
On the other hand, the weakness of the UN is not only visible in the affairs of Afghanistan, but also the inability of this organization to protect the children, women, and civilians of Gaza-Palestine is completely obvious. For this reason, the UN's insistence on appointing a special envoy for Afghanistan in some ways follows the policies and even orders of White House leaders.
Although the UN says that women and anti-Taliban were not invited to the third meeting in Doha, we will have a meeting with them the next day, this is not true. Women and civil society, of course, were not invited to this meeting. Even Guterres will not attend the meeting, and US officials also said it has not yet been decided whether Tom West and Rina Amiri, both US representatives, will attend the third meeting in Doha.
But not inviting women to the third meeting in Doha is a betrayal of democracy, freedom, and human values. Ignoring Afghan women is an insult and humiliation not only to Afghan women but to all women in the world.
The UN has somehow shown how powerless, poor, and dependent it is, not to mention that it has accepted the Taliban's terms, but we will have to wait to see whether the Taliban will accept the United Nations' terms or not.
It is worth noting that the agenda currently being considered by the United Nations concerns the environment, drugs, and humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. It does not mention the appointment of a special representative, but what I know from behind the scenes is that the main goal is the appointment of a special representative, which should be appointed at this meeting or subsequent meetings because this is the task of the West and it must be implemented.
Therefore, according to what has been said, we can conclude that the third meeting in Doha will continue to take place under pressure from the United States and the West on the appointment of a UN special representative for Afghanistan. And the Taliban will be supported in this matter by China, Iran, and Russia. In such a situation, there is a possibility that the third round of meetings in Doha will end inconclusively and the organization will continue to remain confused and passive in Afghan affairs.
