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Kabul, Feb. 23 (IANS): The names of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and former Foreign Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar have been removed from the UN Heads of State List.
Meanwhile, Naseer Ahmad Faiq has been named as Charge affairs of Afghanistan on the list of Permanent Representatives of States to the UN, reports TOLO News.
Afghanistan's seat at the UN became a contested issue after the resignation of the former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Afghanistan Ghulam Mohammad Ishaczai following the fall of Kabul in August 2021.
After Ishaczai's resignation, Faiq was appointed as the Charge d'affaires. However, Afghanistan's Permanent Mission to the UN issued a statement later saying that Mohammad Wali Naeemi, the Deputy Representative, has become Charge d'affaires instead of Faiq.
Atmar, calling himself the "Foreign Minister of the republic government", reportedly wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, saying Naeemi will assume the leadership of the Permanent Mission as Charge d'affaires.
According to the letter, when Isaczai resigned, based on principle, Naeemi would have assumed the responsibility but since he was ill, Faiq was appointed instead.
The statement said that as Naeemi recovered, he became the Charge d'affaires and Faiq will continue working in his previous role.
Speaking to TOLO News on Tuesday, Faiq said Atmar's letter to the UN was not accepted and Ghani's and Atmar's name have been removed from the UN system.
"Atmar's letter and his attempt to introduce a new acting head of mission led the UN departments, including legal and political sections, to assess the letter. Then, it was decided that the former government was not official after its collapse on August 15 and that the letter was not considered. This also led to the removal of their names from the UN system," Faiq said.