he UN General Assembly drew to a close without a speech by Afghanistan after world powers intervened in disputes over who would represent it.
The Afghan ambassador appointed by ousted president Ashraf Ghani had been due to defy the Taliban with an address at the meeting that saw 100 leaders gather in New York despite coronavirus fears.
But Ghulam Isaczai’s name was removed from the list of speakers early on Monday in a move that diplomats suggested had been brokered by Washington, Beijing, and Moscow after they did the same for Myanmar.
“I imagine” that there was an agreement struck by those three powers, an ambassador with a Security Council country told AFP news agency.
Another diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, described it as a “wise decision.”
READ MORE: Taliban plea for UN recognition reveals a weak hand
Taliban says Isaczai doesn’t represent Afghanistan
Last week, the Taliban wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres requesting that its new Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi be allowed to participate instead of Isaczai.
The group said that Isaczai, who had urged nations to “unequivocally state” that they would not recognise a Taliban government, “no longer represents” Afghanistan at the global body.
But diplomats at the UN said the request had come too late and Isaczai, still considered the head of Afghanistan’s mission by the UN, appeared on a list of speakers sent out late on Sunday.
“The country withdraws its participation in the general debate,” Monica Grayley, a spokeswoman for the assembly’s president, told AFP, adding that the mission had not cited a reason for pulling out.
The withdrawal came after a high-level UN diplomat told AFP that an agreement had also been reached between the United States, Russia, and China preventing Myanmar’s UN ambassador –– an outspoken supporter of the democracy movement –– from speaking.
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