China, backed by Russia, blocked a US draft resolution Monday in the UN Security Council that would have provided a system for humanitarian exceptions to economic sanctions imposed on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

"They want the deletion" of a paragraph of the resolution allowing the sanctions committee responsible for Afghanistan to provide "exemptions from the freezing of assets" if it considers that "such a waiver is necessary to facilitate further assistance to Afghanistan," a diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

China, which is "opposed in principle to sanctions," is "against a case-by-case exemption mechanism," another diplomat confirmed.

"Humanitarian aid and life-saving assistance must be able to reach the Afghan people without any hindrance," China's UN Ambassador Zhang Jun said in a tweet Monday. "Artificially created conditions or restrictions are not acceptable."

Washington was hoping for approval on Monday of their draft by the other 14 members of the Security Council, so that they could put it to a vote on Tuesday, diplomatic sources said.

"There are currently no humanitarian exemptions from the sanctions regime" imposed on the Taliban in 2015 and for aid workers to "carry out financial transactions with ministries headed by people under sanctions would violate sanctions," said a diplomat.

Having abandoned the disputed paragraph on case-by-case exemptions, the United States submitted a new draft late Monday stating that, for the period of one year, humanitarian assistance would not be deemed to violate sanctions on Afghanistan.

Martin Griffiths, the UN's head of humanitarian affairs, said that "the need for liquidity and stabilization of the banking system is now urgent -- not only to save the lives of the Afghan people but also to enable humanitarian organizations to respond."

Related Links
News From Across The Stans

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Kurds find mass grave of 'IS victims' in Iraq
Sulaimaniyah, Iraq (AFP) Dec 16, 2021
Kurdish forces in northern Iraq on Thursday found a mass grave containing the bodies of at least 11 Iraqi policemen presumed killed by jihadists, a peshmerga security official said. "A mass grave was discovered on Thursday in the Duraji area" where there are many caves once used as hideouts by the Islamic State group (IS), the official said. Duraji is in Salaheddin province in an area disputed between the federal government and the autonomous region of Kurdistan. "The bodies of at least 11 I ... read more