DEC 20: The UN Security Council has imposed new sanctions on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers until they surrender Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden and close "terrorist" camps, dividing the United Nations on the impact of embargoes on the impoverished nation.The resolution was initiated by the United States and Russia in a rare show of unity by the former Cold War rivals and was adopted on Tuesday by a vote of 13-0 despite strong misgivings by aid officials and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.China and Malaysia abstained, voicing concern that the sanctions would only further harm and isolate ordinary Afghanis, caught in a 20-year-old war and the worst drought in a generation.The resolution imposes an arms embargo against the Taliban, including foreign military assistance that UN officials say comes mainly from Pakistan. It limits travel by the senior Taliban authorities, freezes any assets of bin Laden and orders the closure of Afghan Ariana Airlines offices abroad.The measures aim to pressure the Taliban to close "terrorist" training camps within 30 days and expel bin Laden, charged by the United States with plotting the 1998 bombings of US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Some 225 people died and 4,000 more were wounded in those attacks.For Russia, the Taliban are alleged to be behind Chechen, Uzbek, Tajik, Uighur and other rebellions of "extremists," according to Russia's UN ambassador, Sergei Lavrov.The embargoes would go into effect one month from now if the Taliban does not comply. They lapse in a year after which the council would have to vote to reimpose them.In anticipation of the council's actions, the United Nations withdrew its relief staff from Afghanistan, fearing a backlash to the sanctions."It is not going to facilitate peace efforts, nor is it going to facilitate our humanitarian work," Annan said at an end-of-the-year news conference hours before the vote.But US diplomat Nancy Soderberg said that "with this important action today, this council sends an unequivocal message to the Taliban: `End your support for terrorism.' Let us hope that they will at last heed our call."An unusual provision in the resolution is the one-sided weapons ban on the Taliban but not on the Opposition Northern Alliance, supported by Russia, Iran and India, among others.Led by Gen Ahmed Shah Massoud, a former Afghan defense minister, the alliance controls a swath of land near Tajikistan. Its government is recognized by the United Nations while only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have diplomatic ties with the Taliban.The former Soviet Union was involved in more than nine years of military conflict in Afghanistan before its troops were driven out of the country in 1989, with help from the United States, which financed the rebels.In the ensuing civil war, Taliban forces captured Kabul in September 1996 and now control 90 percent of the country.A year ago, the Security Council froze Taliban assets and imposed an air embargo on Ariana Airlines to force the country's strict Islamist rulers to hand over bin Laden. The Air ban, a UN report says, has slowed down delivery of some goods, cost jobs and jeopardized Air safety on domestic flights because of a lack of spare parts.
