After taking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban want to represent the country at the General Assembly of the United Nations.

A UN spokesman said that the transitional government's foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, wrote to request participation in the general debate that ran until Monday.

Whether Muttaqi would travel to New York in person or only want to appear via video link does not emerge from the letter written on behalf of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”.

Muttaqi also named Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen as the new UN ambassador to Afghanistan.

Shaheen was a member of the Taliban's Political Bureau in Doha, which negotiated the withdrawal agreement with the United States last year.

Alexander Haneke

Editor in politics.

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The Taliban have recently repeatedly emphasized their desire for international recognition.

However, the UN ambassador to the deposed Afghan government, Ghulam Isacsai, has also requested participation in the general assembly.

The United Nations receives conflicting applications

A UN committee made up of nine states, including the United States, Russia and China, is responsible for the question of who can represent a member state in the general debate. In the past, this “Credentials Committee” had to decide time and again on conflicting motions, especially when there was a violent change of power in a country. A spokesman for UN Secretary General António Guterres was quoted as saying that it was unlikely that the committee would decide on the motions before the end of the general assembly next Monday.

During their first rule in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban tried unsuccessfully to be recognized by the UN as the representative of their country. At that time, the Credentials Committee repeatedly postponed a decision, which is why a representative of Burhanuddin Rabbani’s government, which was ousted by the Taliban, could continue to attend the general assembly on a provisional basis. In contrast to the current situation, Rabbani did not leave the country after the Taliban came to power in 1996. Troops led by Ahmad Shah Massoud and Abdul Raschid Dostum, who professed Rabbani, were able to keep parts of Afghanistan under their control until the end of Taliban rule, which is why Rabbani remained the internationally recognized President of Afghanistan.

Today, supporters of the deposed government under Massoud's son in the mountainous province of Pandjir are still resisting the Islamists from some side valleys.

But all of the provinces and their capitals are actually under the control of the Taliban.

They also point out that the former President Ashraf Ghani has been deposed and is no longer recognized as a representative of the country from abroad.

Ghani fled the country on August 15 during the Taliban's advance on Kabul and is now in the United Arab Emirates.

The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is worsening

For the Taliban, participation in the general assembly would above all be an important symbolic step. Because of the ever worsening supply situation, Afghanistan is in urgent need of international aid. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of an imminent humanitarian disaster. Without quick financial and material help, the Afghan health system is in danger of collapse, said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva. Tedros and WHO Regional Director Ahmed Al-Mandhari negotiated aid with members of the Taliban during a visit to Kabul. According to the WHO, cuts in international funds are causing severe bottlenecks in Afghanistan's largest health program.Thousands of health facilities can therefore neither buy drugs nor pay employees.

Most states, however, make the resumption of aid dependent on conditions, including the designation of an “inclusive government” and respect for fundamental human rights. On Tuesday, the Taliban complied with the demands to a certain extent when they announced the occupation of further government posts. Several offices go to members of ethnic groups other than the Pashtuns, who make up the majority of the Taliban. However, women are still not represented in the cabinet. In addition, girls have so far been excluded from higher education, although Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced on Tuesday that schools would soon be reopened to all girls. Amnesty International and several other organizations published a report this week,in which they document numerous human rights violations by the Taliban since they came to power.