DATE=11/16/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=AFGHAN SANCTIONS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256225
BYLINE=SCOTT ANGER
DATELINE=KABUL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The leader of Afghanistan's Taleban movement
has asked for an end to protests against the sanctions
the United Nations has now put in place against the
Taleban. As correspondent Scott Anger reports from
Kabul, a U-N official is in the Afghan capital seeking
security guarantees from the Taleban, after protestors
damaged a number of U-N offices throughout the
country.
TEXT: Taleban leader Mullah Omar has urged all
Afghans to stop demonstrating against U-S backed,
United Nations sanctions imposed on the Taleban. In a
written statement, he says the Afghan people should
not rely on the United Nations or the United States -
they should rely instead on God to provide food and
other necessities.
At the same time, Taleban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed
Muttawakil issued a plea to U-N Secretary-General Kofi
Annan asking him to end sanctions and to continue
giving aid to the impoverished nation.
The foreign minister is due to meet with the U-N's
humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, Erik De Mul,
who is in Kabul assessing the security situation of
the U-N staff living there.
Sunday, the day sanctions went into effect, thousands
of people marched through Kabul chanting slogans
condemning the U-N's move as cruel. The protests
eventually turned violent as people threw stones,
shattering windows at the offices of the U-N High
Commission for Refugees. Some office equipment was
also damaged. The protests continued Monday in most
of Afghanistan's major cities with the U-N office in
Farah being set on fire.
Mr. De Mul says he is shocked at the level of
destruction to the U-N offices. He says Taleban
officials have offered to pay for the damages caused
by the violent protests.
The United Nations says as long as security remains
adequate for its staff, humanitarian aid will not be
affected by the sanctions. (SIGNED)
NEB/SA/KL
16-Nov-1999 12:00 PM EDT (16-Nov-1999 1700 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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