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U.N. envoy meets with Afghanistan's Taliban
September 29, 1996
Web posted at: 1:35 p.m. EDT (1735 GMT)KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A United Nations envoy who met with the Taliban Islamic administration Sunday said the international agency wants to continue talks with the rebels, who chased government troops from Kabul on Friday in an almost bloodless takeover of the city.
"My main message was an offer that the United Nations wants to continue the political dialogue and cooperation with Taliban," said Norbert Holl, the U.N.'s special envoy to Afghanistan. He spoke after a two-hour meeting in the Afghanistan capital with the new governing council led by Mullah Mohammad Rabbani.
The U.N. on Saturday condemned the Taliban's execution of former Afghan President Najibullah and his brother Shahpur Ahmedzai. Those two, along with two aides, were dragged from a U.N. compound where they had been hiding since April 1992. All four were executed.
Holl said the Taliban did not issue an apology for their actions during his meeting with Rabbani.
The Taliban on Sunday promised talks with northern faction leader Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, but ruled out any role for ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who is not related to the Taliban's Rabbani.
Former government forces were apparently regrouping in the north of the country. The rebel troops did not immediately pursue the Afghan army north.
The Taliban, a rebel group made up largely of former seminary students, plans to form a government that adheres strictly to Islamic law. In some of their first actions, Taliban members ordered women workers to stay home, closed girls' schools, and instituted the death penalty for adulterers and drinkers.
Holl said women's rights were an issue during his talks with Rabbani, but he did not say what, if any, steps were taken to ensure that women's rights are protected. He did acknowledge that the issue was a delicate one, given the Taliban's fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Calm returns to Kabul as rebels impose strict rule - September 28, 1996
- Afghan rebels seize capital, hang former president - September 27, 1996
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