BREAKING NEWS

UN review Al Qaeda, Taliban sanctions list

KABUL, Afghanistan — Fueling momentum for a political solution to the nearly nine-year-old Afghan war, a UN committee is reviewing whether certain people could be removed from a blacklist that freezes assets and limits travel of key Taliban and al-Qaeda figures, the top UN representative in Afghanistan said.
Delegates to a national conference, or peace jirga, held this month in Kabul called on the government and its international partners to remove some of the 137 people from the list — a long-standing demand of the Taliban.
"De-listing was one of the clear messages coming from the peace jirga," Staffan de Mistura, the UN representative in Afghanistan, told reporters on Saturday. "The UN is listening to what the peace jirga is saying. Some of the people in the list may not be alive anymore. The list may be completely outdated."
A committee is expected to complete its review at the end of the month and give its recommendations to the UN Security Council, which will make the final decision on whether to remove any names off the list.