Afghanistan’s Taliban unlikely to speak at U.N.

UNITED NATIONS — It’s almost certain that Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers won’t get to speak at this year’s U.N. General Assembly meeting of world leaders.

The Taliban challenged the credentials of the ambassador from Afghanistan’s former government, which they ousted on Aug. 15, and asked to represent the country at the assembly’s high-level General

Debate. It began Tuesday and ends Monday, with Afghanistan’s representative as the final speaker.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that as of Friday, Afghanistan’s currently recognized U.N. ambassador, Ghulam Isaczai, who represents former president Ashraf Ghani’s now ousted government, is listed as speaking for the country.

The key reason is that the General Assembly committee which decides on credentials challenges has not met, and is highly unlikely to meet over the weekend.

Assembly spokeswoman Monica Grayley said Wednesday the nine-member committee generally meets in November and will issue a ruling “in due course.”

In a letter to U.N. SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres, the Taliban’s newly appointed foreign minister, Ameer Khan

Muttaqi, said Ghani was “ousted” as of Aug. 15 and that countries across the world “no longer recognize him as president.”

Therefore, Muttaqi said, Isaczai no longer represents Afghanistan and the Taliban was nominating a new U.N. permanent representative, Mohammad Suhail Shaheen. He was a spokesman for the Taliban during peace negotiations in Qatar.