UN threat to Afghan operations

Many Afghans depend on the UN for essential supplies

The UN has warned that it may have to close down its aid programmes in Afghanistan because of increasing harassment from foreign militants who have joined the Taleban.

If we don't speak out, it will only get worse.

UN Co-ordinator Erik de Mul

The UN Co-ordinator for Afghanistan, Erik de Mul, told journalists in neighbouring Pakistan that if harassment continued, then the UN would have no choice but to suspend its operations.

"The ball is in their (Taleban) court to come to terms with reality," he said.

The UN provides aid to hundreds of thousands of Afghans displaced by civil conflict and severe drought.

Abusive behaviour

Mr De Mul said the operational space for UN workers in Afghanistan was getting smaller and smaller, and they were being subjected to threats from what he called "foreign guests" of the Taleban.

The UN says foreign fighters are abusing them

He said men from the Gulf, North Africa and elsewhere routinely harassed international staff.

"They are harassing our workers and gesturing at them and using abusive language," he said.

He said they mimed cutting people's throats whenever they saw any foreign aid workers and used seriously abusive language to women.

He added that aid workers had been advised to keep a low profile and not walk in the streets.

Mr de Mul said they never experienced such behaviour from Afghans and he believed the Taleban Foreign Minister, Wakil Ahmed Mutawakkil, had taken the complaints seriously.

Later, Mr Mutawakkil said the Taleban would not allow what he called their foreign guests to harass other visitors.

He said that international aid workers often suspected foreign militants of being terrorists while other Muslims often suspected the aid workers of being spies. Food survey row

The BBC's Afghanistan correspondent, Kate Clark, says that the behaviour of the Taleban's religious police is also an issue as they have recently arrested several Afghans working for the UN and raided two NGO clinics and a hospital.

On Tuesday, Mr De Mul left Kabul after several days of talks with Taleban ministers.

They failed to resolve a row over a food survey, for which the UN wants to use women workers.

It says it wants to use local women in order to interview families and find out who is most in need.

The Taleban have banned women from working outside the home.

If the row is not resolved, the UN says it will close down its bakeries in Kabul, affecting nearly 300,000 people.