New U.S. Envoy Calls for Peaceful Transition of Leadership in Balkh

The U.S. Ambassador to Kabul John R. Bass has called for a peaceful transition of power in the northern Balkh province and stressed for an urgent solution to end the dispute between President Ashraf Ghani and the ousted Balkh Governor Atta Mohammad Noor.

“It’s not an issue for the United States or any other member of the international community to decide. This is an issue for Afghans to decide within the framework of the constitution, in accordance with the rule of law and in accordance with the principle of a quality before the law; that principle that no individual is above the law,” said Ambassador John Bass at his first press conference in Kabul.

In December, President Ghani announced Atta Mohammad Noor had resigned as governor of Balkh province and a successor had been appointed.

But Noor refused to leave a post he has held for thirteen years and emphasized that President Ghani did not have the power to unilaterally remove him because his party had half of the seats in the coalition government.

In the meantime, the newly appointed Bass announced about an ongoing dialogue between U.S. and Pakistan for eliminating terrorist hideouts in the country.

“We have been pretty clear that we have expectation from Pakistani government about their commitment to dealing with the challenges that are created here by the Taliban’s ability to use parts of Pakistan for sanctuary and to plan and organize attacks here in Afghanistan. We have made clear that it is unacceptable and it needs to change,” Bass noted.

He further added that there is no peace option with the Islamic State (IS) group in Afghanistan.

“There is absolutely no way to workout peace or reconciliation with Daesh. The only way to deal with Daesh is through sustained efforts on the battlefield to either kill them or capture them and to prevent them from being able to conduct attacks,” he said.

This comes as the U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has also urged a peaceful resolution of power struggle between the president and the deposed governor of a northern province.