U.N. request Urgent Meeting on Afghanistan

[Nonson]

UNITED NATIONS, JAN. 13. Due to the chaotic conditions in Afghanistan, the United Nations Coordinator for that country is requesting an emergency meeting of donor nations, asking them to respond to the need for food and non-food items, a spokesman for the Secretary-General said here today.

Mr. Eric de Mul, Coordinator for Afghanistan, is requesting $3.5 million for non-food items, $3.2 million in cash to complement food-for-work programmes and another $600,000 for seeds. The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating daily due to the escalation of fighting in the northern areas.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported that the number of Afghans arriving at a makeshift camp in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province jumped from some 250 to 750 in the past three days, and the fear now is that many fleeing the fighting are on their way, in addition to those leaving their homes to escape the drought. The UNHCR is estimating that there are at least 60,000 new arrivals in Pakistan already, and believe another 40,000 may have entered the country unmonitored. Since last summer the estimates are that nearly one-half million people have left their homes and are displaced in Afghanistan itself. There are at least another 100,000 internally displaced persons from 1999.

This dismal situation comes exactly one week prior to the U.N. sanctions against the Taliban take effect. The Clinton administration lobbied hard for even more sanctions, saying that the Teliban cannot be allowed to continue flouting the will of the international community by supporting terrorists. Earlier this week, Mr. Karl Inderfurth, the outgoing Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, described Afghanistan as a continuing tragedy, speaking of the agony of the people living there. He pointed out that Washington had made efforts to effect a settlement in 1998 but that that effort failed. By the bringing of sanctions against the Taliban, Washington is hoping that Osama bin Laden will be forced to leave the country, possiblity giving the internatioanl community a chance to bring him to justice.

Nonson
1.14.01