U.N. pulls out its staff from Afghanistan

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, SEPT. 12. Preparing for any eventuality in Afghanistan following the terrorist strikes in New York and Washington on Tuesday, the United Nations today pulled out its international staff from different parts of Afghanistan.

A press statement issued by the Office of the United Nations Coordinator for Afghanistan said here that ``due to circumstances prevailing internationally, the United Nations is temporarily relocating international United Nations staff working in Afghanistan''.

Implied in the action of the U.N. is the fear of retaliatory action by the U.S. against the Taliban regime that is accused of sheltering the Saudi billionaire, Osama bin Laden.

The Saudi dissident, Osama bin Laden, and his followers are among the various suspects alleged to be involved in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

However the decision of the United Nations to relocate its staff from Afghanistan to Pakistan for the time being does not mean that U.S. strikes on Afghanistan are imminent.

A senior staffer in the U.N. maintained that their decision to pull out the international staff from Afghanistan was no more than a `precaution to take care of any possibility'.

Decision of the U.N. to pull out its international staff is bound to affect the humanitarian assistance being undertaken by various international agencies inside Afghanistan. That too at a juncture when people of Afghanistan are reeling under the impact of the worst drought in decades and there is no end in sight for the two-decade old civil war in the country.

It is not for the first time in recent months that the U.N. has temporarily withdrawn its staff from Afghanistan.

In the wake of the attack on the USS Cole at a harbour in Yemen, which killed 17 U.S. sailors, the U.N. had pulled out its staff from Afghanistan fearing strikes by the U.S.

The United Nations international staff is currently present in six locations in Afghanistan.

These are Kabul, Jalalabad, Mazar, Kandahar, Herat, and Faizabad.

The strength of the international staff is 80 and a majority of them have already reached Pakistan. The temporary withdrawal of the staff is to be completed by tomorrow.

The U.N. press statement made it a point to mention that the authorities in Afghanistan have co-operated in issuing the necessary flight clearances.

It said that United Nations humanitarian agencies hope that activities can continue as normal so that critical pre-winter relief work can be completed.

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