PRESS STATEMENT ON AFGHANISTAN BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Following is today’s statement to the press on Afghanistan by Security Council President Heraldo Muñoz (Chile):

Members of the Security Council welcomed the new Constitution agreed by Afghanistan’s Constitutional Loya Jirga on 4 January.

The members hailed this as a very significant step on the path towards a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan that respects the rights of all Afghan citizens, men and women.  It also provides the platform to sustain the Bonn peace process conducted under the auspices of the United Nations, which in its final stage will culminate in national elections later this year.  To this end they emphasized the need to create a secure environment, and deplored the recent acts of violence in Afghanistan.

The members paid tribute to the delegates to the Constitutional Loya Jirga for their work in completing this long and complex process, as well as to the people of Afghanistan for their continued determination to restore Afghanistan to its rightful place in the community of nations.

They also recognized the important role played in the process by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, and congratulated him on his very successful tenure as the Special Representative.

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