Two more candidates have been proposed for the post of UN Special Representative in Afghanistan.
Author: Ahmad Saidi, an analyst on Afghanistan and regional issues (Germany), especially for Sangar
After much anticipation, optimism, and pessimism, the Doha meeting on Afghanistan will finally take place on February 18 and 19 under the chairmanship of UN Secretary-General Mr. Guterres.
I want to share the topics that will or will not be discussed at this meeting.
1 - There is no plan to legitimize Taliban rule or recognize it, and no decisions will be made at this meeting.
2 - Participants in this meeting are only special representatives of countries. Tom West and Rina Amiri are participating from the United States, Kazemi Koumi is from Iran, and in the same way, only special representatives are participating from some countries; no one is participating at the level of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
3 - But the Taliban said that we will participate in this meeting on the condition that the Secretary General of the United Nations does not introduce the special representative he wants to introduce in this meeting, but will introduce him later. And at the same time, let the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Guterres, promise that he will officially and briefly meet with the Taliban delegation.
But so far the UN Secretary-General has not said anything on this matter, whether he will meet with the Taliban or not, whether the issue of a special representative will be discussed or not.
4 - On behalf of civil society and the people of Afghanistan, 4 women and 2 men were presented to the UNAMA office in Kabul, those who are in some way associated with the UNAMA office and have the support of non-governmental organizations and are optimistic about and associated with the Taliban. They will participate in this meeting and are in no way representatives of women and the people of Afghanistan.
Now let's return to the question of the special representative of the UN Secretary-General who should be appointed.
According to my information, Feridun Sinirlioğlu, who is said to be appointed once again as Special Representative, will not be appointed. But there are likely two more people. One of them is Cihad Erginay, the former Turkish ambassador to Kabul. He has an 80% chance of being appointed as a special representative.
Another candidate is Zayed Ra'ad al-Hussein, the former head of a human rights organization in Geneva who is a cousin of Jordan's King Abdullah. He has a 20% chance of being appointed as a Special Representative.
But at this meeting, four countries, including China, Russia, Iran, and Uzbekistan, are trying very hard to ensure that the vote on engagement with the Taliban continues, that is, they want a commitment from the United Nations that we will follow up further actions and interactions with the Taliban to achieve results in one or two years.
At the same time, with the Doha meeting in doubt, the US House Foreign Relations Committee summoned Zalmay Khalilzad to give information on the Doha negotiations, why the Doha decisions were not implemented and the Afghan people faced such a terrible fate, and why America's dignity was undermined nationally and internationally. What were Zalmay Khalilzad's answers will become known later.
In any case, the meeting in Doha, which will take place on February 18 and 19, will last two days, and all its decisions and results will be the same as I presented to you.
