UN
in
Afghanistan
Says It Is
Different from
US, Cares for
Freezing Kids
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 20 --
Since Jan
Kubis took
over as the
UN's top envoy
in
Afghanistan,
corpses have
been urinated
on, Korans
burned and
most
recently 16
civilians shot
and killed by
a US soldier
now back in
Kansas. That
is to say, it
is not an easy
environment
for a
diplomatic
mission into
which
previously New
York based UN
official
Nicholas
Haysom now
flies as
Kubis' deputy.
Inner
City Press
asked Kubis on
Tuesday about
Hamid Karzai's
statement that
American
troops should
remain in
their bases,
and his
government's
complaint
that the US
has not
cooperated
with its
investigation
of the killing
of civilians.
Kubis
replied that
these are
bilateral
matters
between
Afghanistan
and the US, or
ISAF
-- he
emphasized
that these are
different from
the UN, though
both
ISAF and UNAMA
were mandated
by the same
body, the UN
Security
Council, and
have "the same
objectives."
Inner
City Press
asked Kubis
about the
plight of
internally
displaced
Afghans,
including some
28 children
who froze to
death this
winter in
camps
around Kabul.
Kubis
responded that
both the UN
and the Afghan
government
jumped to
respond to
that; he said
that the "root
causes" of
displacement
have to be
addressed.
He
acknowledged
that drug
cultivation
has increased,
without
answering
Inner City
Press'
question about
how this could
be, given the
"robust"
international
presence.
Finally,
Inner
City Press
asked Kubis
about the idea
of a Security
Council visit
to
Afghanistan.
He said it is
up to the
Council, which
has made no
decision.
Kubis said he
would welcome
such a trip,
after the NATO
summit
in Chicago and
Tokyo
ministerial.
Occupy will be
waiting for
NATO,
but no longer
the G-8, in
Chicago. Watch
this site.
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