Ethnic Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum has protested in writing to the UN special representative on Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, over poor representation given to his tribe in the new Afghan interim administration. A representative of Dostum on Tuesday night met Brahimi in Islamabad and handed over a letter expressing his dissatisfaction over the representation given to his ethnic Uzbek Junbish-i-Milli-yi Islami Party. Confirming the meeting, UN spokesman Ahmed Fawzi said that the Uzbek war lord's envoy has handed over Dostum's letter to him. Dostum has protested over granting some insignificant ministries to his party while the major portfolios of interior, defence and foreign affairs have been given to his Tajik colleagues of Northern Alliance. Fawzi said that Dostum, in his letter, has conveyed the problems he faced in the new administration due to lack of adequate representation for his party in the interim administration.
Dostum, however, assured that he would continue to support the Bonn process that established the new interim administration and would not allow anyone to hamper the implementation of the accord, he said. Dostum also said that he was committed to further accelerate efforts to ensure a secure environment for humanitarian aid convoys and relief activities of UN agencies in the areas controlled by him, Fawzi added.
Bureau Report