Dealing with the Taleban

The civil war in Afghanistan has taken a new twist since the Taleban took control of Kabul on Sept. 27. The war, in its 18th year, is far from over, but the world has to deal with Kabul's new rulers, although some countries might not feel comfortable establishing relations with a regime that is trying to impose its own brand of Islamic rule.

The Taleban -- a movement that was started by young Afghans studying in Pakistan -- may not gain their legitimacy from the people, but they have enough supporters and followers to be able to take control of the capital and a large chunk of the country. As the de facto rulers in Kabul and two thirds of the country, it is with them that the rest of world, like it or not, will have to deal with, at least for now.

Many of the actions taken by the Taleban since they moved into Kabul have raised concern in the rest of the world. The execution of former president Najibullah -- who had been in confinement since his downfall in 1992 -- on the day the Taleban militia arrived in Kabul was seen as a barbaric act. Then their decision to impose the Sharia, or Islamic Laws, raised further alarm, especially with regard to the treatment of women. While no country has the right to tell the Afghan rulers how to run their country, denying Afghan women access to education and jobs is despicable.

How should the world respond to such discriminatory action which goes against universal values and norms? The reactions thus far have ranged from the cautiously circumspect to the outright condemnatory and even include a call for international isolation. Some of the reactions were based on genuine concerns, but others were unfortunately motivated by the strategic interests of the countries concerned. It is common knowledge that the civil war has gone on this long largely because the warring factions have been propped up by foreign governments with strategic interests in Afghanistan.

Some of the international responses to the recent events in Afghanistan have been excessive, if not unhelpful. The calls for isolation and the threat to stop financial aid, for example, will do nothing to improve the situation. Judging from the reaction in Kabul, they might be counterproductive and further alienate the new Afghan rulers.

The attempt to have the United Nations Security Council condemn the Taleban's treatment of women would not have achieved anything constructive, because it would smack of interfering in the internal affairs of Afghanistan. Statements of concern will probably be much more helpful.

The approach taken by United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is the correct one. While expressing concern, he reminded the new regime in Kabul of their international commitments. He said that Afghanistan signed the 1979 Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and signed and ratified the 1966 Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. He also said that the discriminatory treatment of women "directly contravene the spirit and letter" of the 1995 Beijing Declaration on women.

The United Nations should continue to pursue its commendable diplomacy to promote peace in the war-ravaged country, no matter how remote the chances are of meaningful dialog developing at this stage. UN special representative for Afghanistan Norbert Holl must not give up his efforts to encourage a broad-based government in Kabul.

Although the Taleban have de facto control over Kabul and most of Afghanistan, they cannot be sure they have the legitimacy of the people until they hold a general election, and they certainly face armed opposition from the ousted government and other clans in the north.

The sooner the Taleban and their rivals realize this, the sooner it is that peace will be restored in Afghanistan and the sooner the people of Afghanistan will be able to determine the system of government they want to have.