AFGHANISTAN:The United Nations yesterday began looking for a new candidate to represent the international community in Afghanistan after Paddy Ashdown was forced to withdraw in the face of Afghan opposition.
The former Liberal Democrat leader's withdrawal is an embarrassment for Britain, the US and the UN, which had agreed on Lord Ashdown's candidacy apparently without thoroughly checking his acceptability to the Afghan president Hamid Karzai and his government in Kabul.
Even after Mr Karzai had raised objections last week, British officials assessed it as a minor glitch and confidently predicted Lord Ashdown would be confirmed as the UN's special representative to Kabul within days.
According to diplomatic sources, Mr Karzai's objections grew as he learned more about Lord Ashdown's record as the international community's "high representative" in Bosnia, where he had a reputation for being effective and assertive. Mr Karzai was concerned a forceful and high-profile personality would eclipse the authority of his own government.
In a letter to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, Lord Ashdown pointed out that he had not sought the post, but had been persuaded by the US that he would have the required backing to do what he thought necessary to co-ordinate international support for the Kabul government. Lord Ashdown also recalled that Mr Ban had assured him, at a meeting in Madrid this month, that he had the support of Kabul. However, in the light of reports of Afghan opposition, he had decided to pull out.
In his withdrawal letter, Lord Ashdown said he thought that Kabul opposed his appointment "partially based on my nationality and Britain's role in Afghanistan".
However, senior Afghan officials have expressed interest in another Briton, Gen John McColl, who led the first international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.