E.U. House calls for sanctions on Taliban

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, DEC. 8. The diplomatic noose round the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan is tightening with resolutions being passed in the European Parliament and the United Nations against the fundamentalist regime there.

In the latest resolution on Afghanistan in the European Parliament, passed unanimously by a cross section of political parties, the parliamentarians recalled that ``incessant conflict in Afghanistan has already brought indescribable suffering on the Afghan people and threatened the stability and economic development of the region''.

The resolution noted that the Taliban's obscurantist ideology was the root cause of the constant human rights abuses and condemned the regime's overt support to international terrorism, and called on Governments to impose an embargo on arms sales to the regime. It also called on the Pakistani authorities to halt all forms of military assistance to the Taliban in accordance with the sanctions imposed on Afghanistan by the U.N. Security Council. Pakistan was also urged to ensure that women and religious minorities were protected and enjoyed equal treatment.

The resolution called on all the 15 members of the E.U. to refuse to establish or continue any economic contact with the Taliban regime. The parliamentarians also proposed to strengthen political and humanitarian cooperation with the neighbouring states of Afghanistan which are under threat from

Taliban. They also condemned the apartheid system that is being established in Afghanistan and resolved to maintain restrictive measures against the regime as long as it continued its policy of discrimination against women. Copies of the resolution have been forwarded to the U.N. Security Council, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, India, China, Russia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan besides the Taliban. According to diplomatic sources, the perception at the at the U.N. is that the proposed international arms embargo against the Taliban regime could prove only moderately effective.

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Section  : International
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