Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), Abdul Salaam Hanafi met with the UN Secretary-General’s special representative to Afghanistan Deborah Lyons on Saturday at ARG (Presidential Palace) to discuss various issues including that of the protection of UN operations and staff.

Hanafi asked for the UN’s cooperation in different sectors and assured Lyons the Islamic Emirate (IE)
would ensure the safety of all UN organizations in Afghanistan, said a spokesperson of the IEA Zabiullah Mujahid in a statement.

Lyons, who is also head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), briefed Hanafi on her recent visit to the US and said that the UN is committed to providing the people of Afghanistan with humanitarian assistance.

Lyons also said that they are willing to cooperate with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in resolving economic woes and banking problems.

Hanafi in turn said that the IEA is willing to work closely with the UN and wants positive and fruitful consultations.

“Our priority is to protect the security and social rights of the Afghan people and (we) will not allow any group to threaten other countries using Afghanistan’s soil,” said Hanafi.

He also said that the IEA will work to stop the planting of poppies, the source of opium and heroin, and asked the UN to provide Afghan people with alternatives in terms of jobs and farming.

Lyons also expressed gratitude to the IEA for giving their assurance that UN organizations and staff will be safeguarded in the country, read the statement.

Lyons meanwhile also met with acting foreign minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi. According to her, they discussed the increase in staff needed to deliver humanitarian aid.

She also said she would call for the economic curbs against Afghanistan to be lifted during her upcoming trip to the US, said MoFA spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi.

Muttaqi meanwhile assured her that the Islamic Emirate was ready to distribute all humanitarian aid, Balkhi added.

Meanwhile, Zabihullah Mujahid, Deputy Minister of Information and Culture and an IEA spokesman, said that the amount of humanitarian aid provided so far has not been enough.

“This aid is not enough. The people of Afghanistan have just emerged from the war, the economic problems have increased and it will take time to solve them,” Mujahid said.

Mujahid welcomed the aid being sent into the country but said this was not nearly enough to help all those in need.

He also assured donors that all aid received would be distributed fairly and transparently and only to those in need.
Zabihullah Mujahid, deputy minister for the Ministry of Information & Culture, told Ariana News that no one from the address of the Islamic Emirate govt attending the meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries, but described the meeting as good for Afghanistan.