Top UN delegation visiting Afghanistan

[November 24, 2008]  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A delegation from the United Nation's Security Council will push for regional cooperation as it takes stock of the situation in Afghanistan, the U.N. said in a statement Monday.

Among the 15-member delegation is Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghan-born U.S. ambassador to the U.N. who is often mentioned as a possible candidate in next year's presidential elections in Afghanistan. Khalilzad, who served as the United States ambassador to Afghanistan following the 2001 U.S. invasion, has said he does not plan to run.

The delegation will "underscore the importance of regional cooperation for governance, security, and development," a U.N. statement said. It will have three days of meetings with top Afghan and international officials.

There is an understanding internationally that to tackle the insurgency in Afghanistan, neighbors such as Pakistan and Iran need to be involved in the process.

Pakistan is particularly important because of its relations with the Taliban when the hard-line Islamists were in power. There have also been allegations that elements of its intelligence service still support some of the insurgent groups that use Pakistan's lawless tribal areas as safe havens to plan and launch attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The office of President Hamid Karzai said the Afghan leader spoke with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari by telephone late Sunday. The two emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation and joint counterterrorism efforts to help increase peace in the region, Karzai's office said.

U.S. military officials have also accused agents within Iran of providing weapons and explosives to the Taliban, but there has not been proof of Iranian government involvement.

Although relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been improving recently, Afghan officials have repeatedly called on the U.S. and other foreign forces with troops in Afghanistan to attack insurgent safe havens in Pakistan.

The United States has launched more than 20 missile strikes into the tribal areas this year, prompting Pakistan to protest what it calls the violation of its sovereignty.

The U.N. delegation will also "underline the role of the United Nations in promoting peace and stability," the statement said.

The visit comes as Afghanistan has faced record levels of violence. U.S. officials have said their forces have seen a 30 percent increase in attacks this year compared with 2007.

Since the ouster of the Taliban's hard-line Islamist regime from power following the 2001 invasion, the U.N. has been tasked with leading the civilian aid effort for the international community.

The U.N. Security Council has also legitimized the presence of some 50,000 NATO-led troops, who are involved in daily battles with insurgents, mainly in the country's south and east.

Despite major achievements in Afghanistan, such as getting some 6 millions children -- including 2 million girls -- into school, and the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections, the Taliban has bounced back. It now heads an insurgency that threatens Karzai's government and the entire international effort to transform the country.

More than 5,500 people -- mostly militants -- have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year according to an Associated Press tally of figures provided by Afghan and Western officials.

[Associated Press; By FISNIK ABRASHI]

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