India is worried after the US and European countries moved a draft UN Security Council resolution to separate the Taliban from al-Qaeda in the UN sanctions regime, a political gesture that could spur possible reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan.
The U.S. is throwing its weight behind a proposal to create separate terrorism blacklists for al-Qaida and the Taliban as it will make easier task for Afghan president Karzai to pursue reconciliation process in Afghanistan .Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been making peace overtures to members of the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan for five years and sheltered al-Qaida before being driven out of power in the US-led invasion in late 2001.
The Taliban have long demanded removal from the sanctions list to help promote reconciliation.
But India is concerned about dividing the al-qaeda and taliban a sthis move could dilute the UN sanctions regime that keeps them subject to an asset freeze and travel ban.
Peter Wittig, permanent representative of Germany to the United Nations and chairman of the UN committee overseeing the sanctions, said the panel will decide in about two weeks whether to divide the list.
Germany ambassador to UN Peter Wittig, who is also chairman of the UN's al-Qaida and Taliban sanctions committee, said the proposals - which include "sunset clauses" to prevent individuals languishing on the sanction list indefinitely - remained controversial with some of the 15 members, and unanimous agreement would have to be achieved by 17 June.
The current UN sanctions list for both al-Qaida and the Taliban includes about 450 people, entities and organisations, including roughly 140 with links to the Taliban.
The Afghan government has asked a UN panel to take about 50 Taliban figures off the sanctions list, The committee will rule on many of these requests on Monday.
The sanctions list under UN Security Council resolution 1267 (1999) concerning Al-Qaida and the Taliban and associated individuals and entities also referred as the “Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee” oversees the implementation by States of the three sanctions measures (assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo) imposed by the Security Council on individuals and entities associated with the Taliban, and the Al-Qaida terrorist organisation.
The US and Afghan governments are willing to reconcile with Taliban members who renounce violence, embrace the Afghan constitution and sever ties with al-Qaida.
US government gave a reasoning that it would highlight the significance of the political efforts that are ongoing in Afghanistan."A 23-member group of Taliban have given up insurgency and joined government-initiated peace and reintegration process in Badghis province Monday morning," Sharrfudin Majidi told
In efforts to end the nearly 10-year war and Taliban-led insurgency, Afghan President Hamid Karzai set up a 70-member High Council for Peace in September 2010 to accelerate the government- backed national reconciliation with Taliban and associated militants.
The Afghan government cited that reason behind delinking Taliban from Al Qaeda is that Al-Qaida is focused on worldwide jihad against the West and establishment of a religious state in the Muslim world,while Afghan Taliban militants have focused on their own country and have shown little interest in attacking targets outside Afghanistan.
Afghan authorities are persuading council members to support the idea.
But actually some countries are still undecided about whether to embrace the idea of splitting the list. All committee members must vote in favor for it to be approved. It's unclear, for instance, whether it will be approved by Russia,which has expressed a reluctance in the past to approve requests to delist Taliban members.
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