SECRETARY-GENERAL DEEPLY CONCERNED AT TALIBAN DECISION TO ABANDON FORUM FOR INTRA-AFGHAN DIALOGUE
Press Release
SG/SM/6565
AFG/79
SECRETARY-GENERAL DEEPLY CONCERNED AT TALIBAN DECISION TO ABANDON FORUM FOR INTRA-AFGHAN DIALOGUE
19980519 The following is the text of a statement attributable to the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:The Secretary-General has received a report from the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA) that the Taliban have decided to abandon the Ulema process as a forum for intra-Afghan dialogue. The decision was conveyed to a visiting UNSMA mission in Kandahar on 17 May by Taliban leaders, who alleged that the Northern Alliance had refused to cooperate. The Secretary-General notes that the proposed Ulema process was entirely a Taliban initiative.
The Secretary-General is deeply concerned at the Taliban's decision not to continue face-to-face talks with the Northern Alliance delegation, especially in the light of intensified fighting in Takhar and other areas in northern Afghanistan. He strongly urges the Taliban movement to reconsider their position, and calls on both sides to honour their previous commitments to refrain from new military offensives.
The Secretary-General takes this opportunity to reiterate his belief that there is no military solution to the conflict, and that the only way to restore peace and stability to Afghanistan, whose people have endured great suffering over many years, is through negotiation.
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