Segregating Taliban and Qaeda for Afghan peace talks 'recipe for disaster': UN expert

Islamabad, July 8(ANI): Martin Scheinin, the UN Special Rapporteur on Counterterrorism, has slammed the UN Security Council's measure to 'separate' the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists in the backdrop of making 'peace' with insurgents in Afghanistan.

"I have issues over Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda classifications, and I found myself in serious disagreement with what had happened to this effect lately," Scheinin told The Nation on the telephone from New York.

"Like I said many a times, it's all politically motivated and frankly, I was not involved in these deliberations. Making quick decisions without considering a wide ranging scenario could lead to disastrous implications," he added.

The UN's controversial initiative to facilitate dialogue with militants by getting them off its list might trigger a strong backlash in the wake of ever growing insurgency in Afghanistan.

The de-listing of the most wanted Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists from the UN Security Council's sanction list might turn out to be another controversial deal orchestrated by the international body after the controversial Bonn Agreement- that paved way for incumbent Afghan President Hamid Karzai's elevation to power- which received much criticism from international stakeholders and Pashtun-dominated Afghanistan's indigenous power set-up.

The UNSC measure to 'separate' the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists in the backdrop of making 'peace' with the militants has received wide criticism from Afghanistan's powerful stakeholders.

During an interview last month, Ustad Atta Muhammad Noor, a powerful Afghan warlord and governor of Afghanistan's Balkh province, had slammed the UN as well as his own government for turning friendly towards militants.

"I tell the US, Britain and their NATO forces, 'Come on! Wake up! Don't jump into suicidal path! Its militants that do suicide attacks and you should not follow them! Reconciliation with militants is suicidal!" he had said in the interview to The Nation. he Afghan warlord had termed Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists as 'blood thirsty people' and 'two facets of the same coin', while strongly opposing a UNSC resolution to separate Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists. (ANI)