ELEMENTS FOR A STATEMENT TO THE PRESS
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL
AFGHANISTAN
- Members of the Security Council were briefed by the Secretariat on the situation in Afghanistan.
- Members of the Council expressed grave concern at the continued armed conflict in Afghanistan. They recalled the repeated demands by the Council in its resolutions that the parties, in particular, the Taliban, stop fighting and resume the negotiations under United Nations auspices without further delay and any preconditions. They reiterated their call to all Afghan parties to work together for peace and the establishment of a broad-based multiethnic and fully representative government.
- Members of the Council concurred that there was a growing risk of greater internationalization of the problem. There is a real danger that the Afghan territory is being used as a base to destabilize other countries in the region. They were disturbed by incidents involving the entry of extremists and terrorists from the territory of Afghanistan into the territories of three Central Asian States.
- Members of the Council also expressed grave concern at further deterioration of the humanitarian and human rights situation in Afghanistan. They insisted that all parties took responsibility for the safety and the security of the civilian population and of humanitarian personnel in areas of Afghanistan under their control as well as in areas of conflict and urged, in particular, the Taliban, to remove restrictions imposed on the work of humanitarian organizations.
- Members of the Council strongly condemned the recent killing of seven de-mining workers working under the auspices of the United Nations mine-clearing programme and called on the Taliban authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. They expressed their profound condolences to the families of the victims who gave their lives in the cause of peace.
- Members of the Council were disturbed by an alarming increase in the cultivation, production and trafficking of drugs in and from Afghanistan.
- Members of the Council reiterated that continuing disregard by the Taliban of the demands made in the relevant resolutions of the Council, particularly in its resolution 1267 (1999), is totally unacceptable. They confirmed their determination to ensure full compliance by the Taliban without conditions with its obligations under resolution 1267 (1999) and other relevant resolutions.