Taleban close UN office

UN personnel will have to leave

The ruling Taleban authorities in Afghanistan have ordered the United Nations to close its office in the country.

In a letter to the UN Special Mission in Kabul, the Taleban said it expected the office to close as soon as possible.

The move comes in direct retaliation to last week's decision by the United States to shut the Taleban's offices at the UN in New York.

The closure of the UN office would constitute another handicap in the work that we are trying to do

UN representative Francesc Vendrell

The US authorities said that decision was in compliance with UN sanctions on the Taleban.

The sanctions were imposed to force the Taleban to hand over the Saudi dissident, Osama bin Laden, who is wanted in connection with the bombing of two US embassies in Africa in l998.

The sanctions are also meant to force the closure of alleged terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, which the Taleban say do not exist

Critics

The BBC's Stephen Gibbs says the timing of the Taleban move is peculiar as it coincides with a visit to the country by a senior UN official.

The UN has warned of a humanitarian catastrophe

UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kenzo Oshima, is in Afghanistan to monitor the humanitarian crisis there, brought on by a severe drought and relentless war.

The UN representative to Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, had tried to avert the closure of the UN office in Kabul.

Our correspondent says the US decision to break off contacts with the Taleban has its critics at the UN.

It has been argued that if all official contact with the Taleban is cut, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan would only worsen.