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More U.N. Staff Leave Afghanistan As U.S. Defends Sanctions
by Mohammad Bashir
KABUL (AFP) - Three more United Nations staff left Kabul Tuesday due to security concerns as Washington tried to deflect criticism of its push to slap the ruling Taliban militia with tougher sanctions.
U.N. officials said the staff left reluctantly on a regular U.N. flight, bringing to eight the number of U.N. expatriates moved to neighboring Pakistan in the past three days, witnesses and officials said.
"Our security people tell them to leave. They themselves are not willing to go," one U.N. official said, declining to be identified. Five U.N. foreign staff flew to Pakistan on Sunday, he said.
U.N. spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker said on Monday they were leaving due to security concerns after Washington and Moscow last week asked the Security Council to impose tighter sanctions against the Islamic militia.
She said U.N. operations, which are vital to millions of people in this drought and war-ravaged country, were however continuing normally.
But the Office of the United Nations Coordinator for Afghanistan said relief agencies could be forced to evacuate if violent protests erupted, as they did in November last year when limited aviation and financial curbs were imposed.
The Taliban, blamed for fostering Islamic fervor and harboring Osama bin Laden, have promised to ensure security but warned they may not be able to control a widespread outburst against the U.N.
"If additional sanctions are enacted it is likely that the risk to U.N. personnel, premises and property might increase," the U.N. coordinator's office said Monday.
"If this were to be the case, the United Nations would be compelled to reduce the numbers of staff in the field, or even to evacuate international staff."
More sanctions would "hinder the ability of aid agencies to provide life-saving support ... and further affect the human rights of Afghans."
The proposed new curbs include an arms embargo on the Taliban, broader aviation controls, a travel ban against militia officials and the closure of their foreign offices.
The U.S. State Department said Tuesday the Taliban would be held responsible for any violence against relief workers and insisted the proposed measures would not affect humanitarian efforts.
"The international community holds the Taliban responsible for providing adequate security to these humanitarian relief workers and calls on the Taliban to stop their inflammatory disinformation campaign," it said.
It said Taliban claims that last year's sanctions had ruined the economy and more curbs would create a humanitarian catastrophe were a "cynical and calculated lie."
Washington respected the views of relief officials who have raised concerns about the impact of sanctions on relief operations, it said, but added: "It is important to understand that we will hold the Taliban responsible for any negative developments on the humanitarian front."
The proposed sanctions, like those imposed last year, were very specifically targeted at the Taliban, the State Department said in a statement released through the embassy in Pakistan.
But a major U.N. report into the impact of sanctions said Tuesday that although they were aimed at assets "owned or controlled, directly or indirectly" by the Taliban, they still had far-reaching effects on ordinary Afghans.
"Since 1996, all central government apparatus, including all ministries, state and semi-state bodies, has been de facto controlled by the Taliban, the whole of the Afghan public sector is thus affected by the sanctions," it said.
"The highly vulnerable nature of Afghan society, combined with the unique nature of Taliban rule, suggest that the loss of confidence and the sense of isolation ... are contributing factors [out of many] to worsening poverty and vulnerability amongst the general population.
"Any increase in prices of basic staples and medicine or any reduction in income and employment possibilities will have a significant impact on a population that is already operating on the margins of survival."
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