UN not to impose solution on Afghanistan: Envo

ISLAMABAD (NNI): The newly appointed UN secretary generals envoy on Afghanistan Francesc Vendrell has said that he has no intention of imposing any solution on Afghanistan as he does not think it to be a solution to the problem.

"Being a UNSG special envoy for Afghanistan my first assignment would be to visit that region including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asian Republics", Vendrell told VOA in an interview.

He said that the visit to the region is aimed to personally know the situation. He said that after visit to the region he would think what they can do for the solution of the longstanding issue of Afghanistan. He added he is aware of the failure of the efforts and outcomes of his predecessors but said he is used to the problems and difficulties and does not think the afghan conflict would be resolved overnight.

Vendrell who has also served as UNSGs special envoy for east Timor said that he began negotiations and efforts in east Timor in 1992 when the situation seemed very complicated. But somewhat developments took place, which helped resolve the issue and Suharto quit the power.

The UN envoy said that it depends as to what developments take place in Afghanistan within next few months or year. Vendrell said that first of all, he would open his office in Kabul to fully get himself acquainted with the situation in Afghanistan. He said he intends to open offices in Kandahar, Heart art and Tehran as well which is aimed at meeting all the Afghan groups, common afghans, neutral personalities and warring factions.

Vendrell said the United Nations has no plan for peace but said he would make recommendations for solution to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan after he personally knows the situations and discusses all the issues. He said this could be done only when he is fully aware of the demands of the Afghans and regional countries.

When asked why the UN security council does not use force for finding a solution to send peacekeeping force to Afghanistan like Cambodia , East Timor and Bosnia, Vendrell said "let me make it clear that be it the case of Cambodia or East Timor, it took many years to make hectic efforts for sending the UN peace keeping force and in both the cases the warring factions signed a political solution for peace and later it became possible to send peace keepers to monitor the process".

He said that in Afghanistan too there should be first such a political agreement and guarantee of the implementation of the agreement would be the next step. He added that conditions of every country varies with other. So far as the issue of Bosnia is concerned, there was a will among the important member countries of the UN Security Council for resolution of the issue. That is why Dayton agreement arrived. The UN envoy on Afghanistan said that he is not sure that such a will does exit for a final solution to the Afghan conflict.

He said that he thinks first they should see whether or not the Afghans can reach an agreement because this is the soil of the Afghans and the decision that what could be the best solution is also the right of the Afghans. Vendrell said that he cannot predict whether or not he would succeed in peace efforts but said he is certain that the day is not far away when the people of Afghanistan would see return of peace to their country. He said his main task and responsibility is to know how to restore peace and that how he can assist the Afghans achieving this goal.