23 Aug 2001 00:23 UTC;
VOA News
UN Head Urges New
Afghanistan Approach
U.N. Secretary General
Kofi Annan is urging the United Nations to consider a
comprehensive strategy to settle Afghanistan's civil war, which
has caused one of the world's most urgent humanitarian crises. In
a report Wednesday to both the Security Council and the General
Assembly, the U.N. head says he is convinced a political solution
to the conflict is possible. But he says such a solution must
begin with allowing the Afghan people to freely choose their own
government. He says elections or a traditional council of elders
could help end what he calls the Taleban's crisis of legitimacy.
Mr. Annan says the
Security Council may wish to consider a combination of incentives
and sanctions to persuade the Taleban, its rebel opponents and
Afghanistan's neighbors to enter into serious negotiations and
move towards settlement.
The report also says
Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis has reached alarming proportions
following 22 years of civil war and the worst drought in living
memory. The U.N. head says the Taleban and other parties in
Afghanistan have done little to assist their own people, citing a
lack of adequate funds.
He also warns the
situation promises to get worse as the drought rages on and the
Taleban continues to refuse to meet with rebels. The
fundamentalist-Islamic Taleban rulers control about 95 percent of
Afghanistan, with United Front rebels holding small pockets
scattered throughout the country. Only three countries - including
neighboring Pakistan - have recognized the Taleban, which faces
U.N. sanctions for refusing to hand over accused terrorist
mastermind Osama Bin-Laden.
View
the entire report (PDF file - Open
with Acrobat Reader)